


and I heard as it were the noise of thunder

by TheDuchessUnseen



Series: How Then Does One Live? [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Outlast (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, F/F, Horror, I'll add more tags as needed, Let me know if there are any I need to add, Multi, Outlast is a fucked up game, Polyamory, Saved the Bay and the Bae AU, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2018-10-15 01:54:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10548074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDuchessUnseen/pseuds/TheDuchessUnseen
Summary: Four women are trapped in Mount Massive Asylum, each is there for different reasons.Victoria Chase always gets the storyMax Caulfield was the woman who controlled timeKate Marsh just wants to be freeChloe Price just wants to do the right thingThey'll have to trust in each other to survive.EDIT: Takes place ten years after the events of the game.





	1. The Reporter

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE TRIGGER WARNING FOR GORE AND VIOLENCE!  
> If you haven't played Outlast be warned this is super gory with a lot of graphic descriptions of death, this a my first horror fic so I'm reallllly scared about posting it, PLEASE let me know if I need to add more tags.

The rain poured down the winding mountain road in a deluge. After what felt like hours Victoria Chase pulled up to the gates of Mount Massive Asylum. ‘Huh. No one at the gates.’ she thought. She stabbed out her cigarette, dimly aware of how pissed Taylor and Courtney would be if they knew she was smoking again. She bought them at gas station on the way up, she couldn’t help it, she needed something to calm her nerves. Lightning flashed and the asylum was illuminated for a split second. Victoria snorted as she saw the size of the building, ‘Such an imaginative name.’ she thought sourly, ‘Mount Massive, sounds like something Taylor would come up with in a dnd game.’ Waiting for the rain to subside she pulled up the email her editor had given her before sending her all the way the hell up here.  
  
To anyone who reads this, I worked for two weeks as IT support for Murkoff Technology at Mount Massive Asylum.  
  
I tried to just forget it, but I can’t. This shit is hella fucked up, have to keep it short, probs being monitored.  
  
The doctors are running experiments on patients, talking about dream therapy, the scientists say they found something in the mountain, waiting for them.  
  
Some of these people fucking die and they don’t give a shit, made me sign a buncha NDA’s. But fuck this, people are dying and Murkoff’s making money.  
  
Victoria hadn’t been too excited to investigate, she thought it was a prank, but then again, Victoria Chase always got the story. Besides, the place looked way too creepy not to have nothing wrong with it.  
  
The rain finally stopped and Vic got out of her car, looking around for another way in, she was an investigative journalist for fucks sake, she could handle this. She went through an unlocked side gate, from what she could tell, the building looked abandoned. She quietly went up to the front door, locked, sighing, she looked for another way in. Pulling up her camcorder she zoomed in in some of the windows. Off to the left she saw an open window on the second floor. She glanced around, finding a pile of crates, pulled herself up onto the ledge and mentally thanked Dana for dragging her to pole dancing classes. She edged along till she got to the window and climbed in.  
  
Vic found herself in an office which aside from regular clutter didn’t seem to be too bad. She walked towards the door and opened it carefully. The hallway had frosted windows, preventing her from seeing down into lobby. She stepped out of the room, still creeping along slowly. A clatter from down the hallway drew her attention, as did the strange metallic smell that came with it. Slowly, Vic walked forward, camera held out on front of her. As she approached the door the smell grew stronger and she knew- blood- thick and heavy; taking a deep breath she opened the door.  
  
The first thing she saw was a body hanging just inside, she jumped back and stifled a scream, the smell of blood overpowering her senses. ‘Holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck.’ she kept repeating to herself, slowly she began to back away. Fuck this, she was getting the fuck out of here, turning back to the office she saw a figure down the hallway, all she could see of him was that he was covered in blood.  
  
“BAD BAD BADBADBAD!” he screamed at her. Vic stood frozen in fear as he began to charge her. Move dumbass! Her brain shouted at her, she turned and ran into the room with the hanging man, ignoring the body she slammed the door and fumbled in the dark till she found the lock. “BADBAD!” the man screamed as he slammed against the door. Vic jumped back in shock and fearfully brought her camera up, flicking it over to infrared.  
  
Holy.  
  
Fuck.  
  
The room was a disaster, shelves and tables overturned, blood everywhere, Vic could feel it stick to her shoes as she walked forward. She rounded a shelf, the infrared light of the camera giving everything a ghostly glow and…dear god no. Victoria stopped, the sound of the door slamming man out of her mind, the smell of the blood forgotten. In front of her was an entire bookcase covered with body parts, heads, arms, guts, everything. Vic took a shaky breath- and threw up.  
  
No fucking way was this real no fucking way, she retched a few more times, got up onto much shakier legs and walked ahead, sometime while she was throwing up the door slammer got bored and left. The silence was creepier than the slamming.  
  
Near a window in the corner of the room was another dead man, this one wearing what looked like SWAT gear, his body on a fucking pike, like some modern victim of Vlad the Impaler. Swallowing back bile, she forced herself to walk past-FUCK!  
  
“He-help.” the impaled man croaked, reaching out a hand that brushed Vic’s shoulder. “The the variants, they got out...you have to get ou-” the last word never came as the man slumped forward.  
  
Victoria had seen a lot of fucked up shit in her job, war, revolution, horrendous car accidents; but fuck she had never seen a man die in front of her before. She stood there for a moment. ‘Fuck them.’ she thought angrily. Steeling herself, she walked over to...whatever the fuck they impaled him with and stomped on it. After a couple kicks it came free and the body fell to the ground. Vic grabbed the man by his shoulders and pulled, after several minutes the man’s body came free of the spike. Trying to ignore the blood seeping out of his wounds Victoria reached down and closed his eyes with shaky hands. She knelt beside the dead man as tears began to fall down her face, she didn’t even know this guy but...fuck. Wiping her eyes, Vic got up and made her way out of the room, thankfully a pile of furniture and boxes was between her and the door she came in so if slamming man was still there he wouldn’t see her. She continued down the hallway before coming to a dead end, looking up she saw an open air vent. ‘Fuck.’ jumping up, Vic pulled herself into the it. She clambered along on hands and knees till she saw the opening at the end, dropping down, she could see she was at the opposite side of the lobby now. She had to get down there.  
  
Rounding a corner, she came to a row of bookshelves, placed parallel to the walls like some makeshift barricade. Finding a narrow space between two of them Vic squeezed between them and began to scoot slowly.  
  
“LITTLE PIG.” Victoria almost pissed herself as she felt a beefy hand grab her arm from behind and roughly pull her away from the bookshelves. She screamed in terror when she saw her assailant, a giant, he didn’t even look human, his arms were wrapped in chains and holy fuck did he not have lips? A massive hand grabbed her by the throat, hoisting her in the air and she was sure she was going to die as her eyes began to darken. She heard rather than felt her back hit the frosted glass as the giant-thing threw her like a doll, still screaming she hit the lobby floor and fell unconscious.  
  
As Victoria came to she became aware of someone kneeling beside her.  
  
“Thank God you’re here.” the man said, “My name is Father Martin and you, you my child are my disciple. He gingerly touched her camera, “God has sent you with the power to record my message.” He rose, to Vic it looked like he was wearing a giant cross on his shirt weird robe thing he was wearing. “Bless you my child.” he said, before turning to leave as she fell unconscious again.


	2. The WomanWho Controlled Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maxine Caulfield once could control time, now, she was trapped as a patient in an insane asylum. When she wakes up she finally has the chance to escape, but first she has to escape the asylum alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max's introduction yay!  
> Again, trigger warnings for violence and gore.

Far away, in another corner of the asylum a patient was just waking up from a drug-induced sleep. Maxine Caulfield was strapped to a gurney, she couldn’t remember much of what had happened the last few months, she remembered the elevator, talk of a test, lights, and- nothing. It was like someone had picked away those memories from her brain. A bloodcurdling scream snapped her out of her haze. Holy…why was there blood on the wall? This had to be a dream, it had to be, it had to be. She looked around, holy shit the blood was everywhere. Wriggling frantically, she tried to loosen her bonds but fuck they were too tight. She thrashed around till the gurney tipped and fell to its side. Fuck Max was looking at a dead body. One of the doctors. It looked like his neck had been broken.  
  
Someone was coming. Max played dead as she heard a set of footsteps approaching.  
  
“Look at this one.” an eerily calm voice said.  
  
Max’s blood froze in her veins. Fuck. ‘Fuck fuckfuckfuck please go away.’ Max pleaded. There was the sound of a whirring saw and holyshitplease this could not be real WAKE UP! The was a soft snapping noise as the blade cut through her bindings. Max let herself slump to the floor, she had to get the jump on this guy.  
  
“You’re gonna make a great meal.” the man said, his rancid breath inches from her face.  
  
MEAL? FUCK IT. Max’s fist lashed out, catching Hannibal LACKter ‘ha’ in the jaw. Max scrambled away as she heard the man curse as he struggled to his feet. Max ran for all she was worth, which wasn’t much given her still half-drugged state. ‘Oh my dog’ she thought, it looked like a massacre, so many dead bodies. She ran/stumbled along the hallways, looking for a hiding place, Hannibal still chasing her. She rounded a corner and practically threw herself into the first room she saw, looking around she saw a row of lockers in the corner.  
  
She dashed towards them, hiding in the farthest one. She pulled the door closed and crouched down, hugging her legs to her chest. The door slammed open and Max could hear him stalk around the room, searching for her. After what seemed like hours but was a few minutes at the most she heard him growl in frustration.  
  
“I’ll find you!” he screamed repeatedly as he ran out of the room.  
  
‘Thank god.’ she thought, ‘I have to get out of here.’ For the millionth time in the last ten years Max wished she had her powers back. Wished she could have a normal life. She had already lived hundreds of lifetimes, thousands of years, unlocked untold power. She had seen everything, from the birth of the world to its end, been hated, worshipped, loved. Grown old, died, had been reborn, altered world history, inspired religions and revolutions and paintings and stories. Experienced the full spectrum of human life and touched the farthest reaches of the universe. Done all that, all for her all for Chloe. Finally, after millennia of trying, she had done it, manipulated the universe enough so that the storm would never come, so Chloe would live, so Rachel would live, so Kate would live. Then, once the people she loved were safe, she sacrificed her powers, eliminating the last thing that stood in the way of her and her friends lives, the last thing that destroyed the storm.  
  
When Max returned to her own time she was in the car with her parents and called Chloe the second she got to Seattle. The two kept in contact, kept close. Max took her on skype tours through Seattle and watched the sun rise from the lighthouse on Chloe’s phone. Joyce still married David, this time Joyce and Chloe worked together, got him to go to the VA. He was much better in this universe. The Caulfield’s made lots of trips down to Arcadia Bay and the Price-Madsen’s came up to Seattle. It was on one of those trips that Max told Chloe how she felt about her.  
  
They shared their first kiss at the International Fountain.  
  
A few months after that Max told Chloe that she would be joining her at Blackwell Academy. Then Max had a stroke. The stress of manipulating so much time had taken its toll. While at the hospital Max was pumped full of so many different drugs she started to talk, tell everyone her secret. That she could control time once. That she shook hands with presidents and saw pyramids being built, that one day space travel would be as common as plane travel and she got to meet aliens.  
  
She was admitted of course, she never did find out what her parents told Chloe. She’d spent the last ten years of her life in and out of mental institutions, having people poke and prod her. The doctors said her brain waves were off the charts, that they had never seen anything like it. Her parents were worried, they visited often. Till one day they just didn’t. Two years ago Max was moved to Mount Massive and was told her parents had died in a car crash on the way to visit her.  
  
Never, never in the last thirteen years since Max had given up her powers did she wish for them more than she did then. She screamed and sobbed begged for something, anything, some form of comfort, a hug, a shoulder squeeze, anything. The doctors, cold and compassionless gave her a sedative. In her dreams, Max heard voices, Mark Jefferson’s voice. He told her that it was her fault her parents died, and she believed him. Max Caulfield was once worshipped as a goddess. Max Caulfield was once the Girl Who Controlled Time. Max Caulfield once kissed Chloe Price in front of a fountain. Now Max was just a lab rat for whatever the scientists wanted her for. All Max wanted was to hold Chloe in her arms again.  
  
But some days, there was another voice, this one soft and gentle. She wore simple scrubs and something on her head, maybe a bandana? This woman’s voice would whisper soft words and squeeze her hand. Somedays Max could swear the dream-woman sang to her.  
  
Back in the present, Max slowly got out of her locker and peered around the room carefully. Stretching out her cramped legs Max thanked any god that was listening that she wasn’t wearing her straightjacket today. She walked out of the room and down the hallway, looking for any way out.  
  
As much as Max hated to admit it, she decided that this was real, Mount Massive really was going to hell with her trapped inside. It made sense, she had heard the doctors talking about the effects of something called the ‘Morphogenic Engine’ on the patients and even employees. ‘Whatever that engine is it really did a number here.’ Max thought grimly as she passed another dismembered body, her nose crinkling at the smell of blood and…other things that seemed to seep through the walls. There had to be a way out of here.  
  
Max continued creeping along, fumbling in the dark. She made her way down the stairs and into the basement. She decided she’d make her way down to the sewers and try to get to the male ward, where the exit was, from there. Finally, she found the manhole to the sewers, she climbed down and almost threw up, the smell was even worse down here. Swallowing, Max decided to go on, she had to. She’d get out of here. She’d see Chloe again. She just had to keep walking, crawling, whatever it took to get out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pleeease tell me if you liked it or not!


	3. The Kind Hearted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate Marsh was assistant to a Priest at Mount Massive Asylum, now she has to escape the asylum with her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kate is the kindest person.  
> Trigger warnings again, I'll explain more about her past later.

There was only one person left alive in the chapel. Huddled in her room, flinching at every scream. She had been in there for hours, ever since the priest had told her to hide. Kate Marsh crawled out from under her bed, she would starve if she stayed here, she had to try to get out. Carefully, she unlocked her door. The chapel had been quiet for over an hour, it could be safe, whether or not, she had to try. Slowly opening her door, Kate bravely stepped out, she knew the way to the exit, she just had to…oh no, oh God nonono. There, on the altar, was the Priest. Crying, Kate approached him, trying not to look into his unblinking eyes. She straightened his body and folded his hands over his chest before closing his eyes, it was a lot harder to do that it looked.  
  
Kate Marsh knelt down and prayed.  
  
Prayed for his soul.  
  
Prayed for her soul.  
  
Prayed that she would survive this…this…Hell.  
  
She got up, tears still creeping slowly down her cheeks. The elevator. Hallway. Another elevator. That was her path, saying one final prayer she opened the doors to the chapel. There was blood everywhere, down the hallway she could see more bodies, stabbed, broken necks. A psalm came to mind, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.” Kate said softly to herself as she left the chapel behind her. She made her way to the elevator. She jabbed furiously at the call button, but there was no power. ‘Guess I’m taking the stairs.’ Crawling over and under desks Kate eventually reached the stairs.  
  
The ground floor was even worse. Bodies and blood and more bodies. One hand clutched to the cross around her neck, Kate walked through the building. She heard a scraping noise behind her, like someone dragging metal, she didn’t stop to look behind her, she just ran. Rounding a corner, she screamed as she ran into a man, one of the patients, his eyes were crazed and his mouth was sewn shut. Kate tried to run but he grabbed her arm, slamming her roughly against the wall; she fell to the ground, hand still clutching her cross as she blacked out  
  
Kate woke up laying on a small thin mattress. As Kate looked around the room her blood froze. She knew where she was, even though she had never been here. The cells. She was in the middle of Mount Massive, a place she didn’t know at all. Whoever knocked her out must have dragged her here. She went up to the door, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was opened a crack. Half the lights were out, the others only flickered. She was on the second level of the cells, the room was set on two levels, the one she was on; where the cells were ringed by a narrow walkway, allowing her to look directly down onto the first floor. There were three men, one was lying in the fetal position, the other, aimlessly walking in circles, and the third just stood by a column, slowly beating his head against it.  
  
“DON’T LOOK AT ME!!!!” Kate jumped as a patient screamed at her from the other side of the room. The man shook the cell door furiously before running away. ‘I need to get out of here, now.’ She went over towards the door that the man just left. Locked. The only way to the other side, the only way out of the room, was up the stairs on the ground floor. To her left, part of the walkway had fallen away. Kate had no idea how that happened but frankly she was too frightened to care. She dropped down, none of the men there seemed to care, Kate doubted that they even noticed she was there. She looked down at them as she got to the top of the stairs, her heart twinging in pity.  
  
“Well, look what we have here.” Kate whirled around and saw two men standing on the opposite side of the cell door behind her, where she just was. Both were huge, pure muscle, and oh ew, god no both of them were naked.  
  
“Is this one Father Martin’s?” one of the men asked.  
  
“No.” the other said.  
  
“Then we can kill this one.” Kate swallowed in fear as she saw each one carried a long knife. Not wanting to hear the rest of their conversation she turned and ran.  
  
She had no idea where she was, she didn’t know she didn’t know she didn’t know. Up ahead she saw a man, a giant man lumbering down the hallway. He didn’t even look human. Kate was still standing there when he turned around.  
  
He roared and ran towards her. Kate turned and ran for all she was worth. She could hear the giant behind her. Just in front of her was a room, Kate ran inside and slammed the door. There was a loud crack as the giant hit the door, she wheeled around in a panic. There. Kate dove under the bed, she heard a few more thuds before the door splintered and fell off its hinges. The giant walked into the room. Kate didn’t even breathe. He looked around for a few moments before he growled and left. There was a pause then more thudding as he began to search the other rooms. Kate stayed under the bed, waiting till he left. As she laid there she thought of the patients she saw daily, hoped they were okay, despite how hopeless it was. She especially thought of her favorite patient. She didn’t know her name. All the doctors said was that she was suffering from severe depression after the death of her parents. Kate knew it was a lie. All of Mount Massive was a lie. Kate hated this place, hated that her mother still had so much control over her. Hated that she didn’t have the courage to stand up to her mother. Kate had heard the rumors that some sort of project was going on under the mountain. Tests on the patients. Kate had brought her concerns to the Priest but he just told her they were only rumors. Kate knew he was lying, and she hated herself for not doing anything. She thought of that woman, about her age, blue eyes dimmed from drugs, head shaved for reasons Kate didn’t want to think about, a smile that Kate knew was reserved for her.  
  
Technically she wasn’t supposed to have contact with her, but Kate gladly took the risk. Somedays Kate would sing to her, songs from her childhood, from animated movies and lullabies. “I See the Light” from Tangled was the woman’s favorite. Kate silently said a prayer for that woman, hoping that she was safe.  
  
Eventually, Kate heard the giant move on, she waited few more minutes before leaving her hiding spot. As she continued down the male ward she kept herself distracted by thinking of Blackwell Academy. She loved it there. More specifically, she loved her friends there. Chloe, Rachel, Victoria, Taylor, Courtney. She’d been made fun of for her Abstinence group at first, but after Chloe and Rachel started hanging out with her it stopped immediately. To this day, Victoria was still apologizing to her for making fun of her. It was also thanks to those girls that she realized she was gay, and more importantly, learned to accept it. She’d never forget that night at Chloe’s house. They were all a little drunk, except for her, and Dana had asked her if she liked any boys. Kate just took a deep breath and, red as a beet, told them that she liked girls. They cheered for her. Promised support and comfort because heck all of them were either gay or bi.  
  
Chloe Price was her first kiss. It happened in the rain. Kate knew it was cliché but oh it was so right. The two were running back to the dorms after lunch at Two Whales, Kate slipped on the grass and Chloe, screaming “I’ll rescue you fair princess!” picked her up bridal style and ran for shelter under an alcove in the side of the library. They laughed as Chloe set her down, “I told you I’d save you.” Chloe said with the cockiest grin, Kate laughed and stared up at the taller girl adoringly. Their eyes met, and Kate met Chloe halfway and kissed her. Kate had never felt better in her life; Chloe’s lips were soft and warm and oh so heavenly. That was still her fondest memory. Dwelling on the past, Kate then thought of the woman with blue eyes. She had spent her whole life doing good, doing Jesus’ work. Helping others. That’s what she did. What she had to do now. Forget escaping, she had to find a computer, find out where that woman was. Save her. Escape. Feeling brave for the first time in a very, very long time, Kate went off to save the woman with the blue eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again kudos and comments are loved!  
> Chloe is the only one left, writing her chapter now.  
> Forgive me for the horrible summary, it's 1:30 AM


	4. The Whistleblower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All her life Chloe had been taught to do the right thing. But now the cost for doing the right thing may come at the cost of her sanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chloe's turn!  
> The previous triggers apply as does involuntary medical procedures but like not real medical procedures. Idk I'm bad at tags, Forced Institutionalization lets call it.

One month ago…  
  
Fuck.  
  
Chloe Price sat huddled in a corner of one of the server rooms under Mount Massive Asylum, hands shaking in fear. Fuck was she really gonna do this? She thought of all she’d seen, all the shit these fuckers did to people. Thought of her mom who taught her right from wrong when she was little. David who was discharged from the army after taking a bullet for a friend, he said it was the right thing to do. Thought of Kate Marsh, who, to quote one of Kate’s favorite movies, “Had more kindness in her little finger than most people have in their whole bodies.” Thought of Rachel and Vic who shared a jail cell one night after beating the shit out of a guy they caught trying to roofie a girl. Vic had broken her hand doing that. She thought of Max. Max who was her first kiss. Max who told her to always do the right thing. Max who was her first love. Max who she still loved. Maxine Caulfield.  
  
Yeah.  
  
Fuck yeah she was gonna do this.  
  
She looked over her e-mail one last time, making she sent it to as many publications as possible.  
  
To anyone who reads this, I worked for two weeks as IT support for Murkoff Technology at Mount Massive Asylum.  
  
I tried to just forget it, but I can’t. This shit is hella fucked up, have to keep it short, probs being monitored.  
  
The doctors are running experiments on patients, talking about dream therapy, the scientists say they found something in the mountain, waiting for them.  
  
Some of these people fucking die and they don’t give a shit, made me sign a buncha NDA’s. But fuck this, people are dying and Murkoff’s making money.  
  
She hit send just as her name cracked over the loudspeaker. ‘Fuck’. Quickly she closed her laptop and hid it. When she reached the, whatever the fuck it was, the Mighty Morphin’ Engine as she called it, she saw her dickbag of a boss Jeremy Blaire waiting for her.  
  
“There you are Miss Price.” he said with that sleazy smile, “We’re glad you’re here. Bring in Mister Gluskin!” he shouted into a loudspeaker. Chloe’s stomach clenched as she saw yet another guy forced into the cavern. The man, Gluskin, broke free of the guards, slamming against the glass.  
  
“Fuck!” Chloe exclaimed, jumping out of her chair in shock.  
  
“Easy Miss Price.” Blaire said, putting one of his gross hands on her shoulder.  
  
Trying not to glare at him she sat back down and began to work as Gluskin was shoved into a large glass sphere under the engine.  
  
“Sir the engine is spiking!” a panicked tech cried out.  
  
“All is well, Miss Price will fix it for us, won’t you?”  
  
“Yeah just give me a sec.” she said as she typed furiously on her keyboard, fuck this was a bad one, she knew people were yelling at her but she was too focused to give a shit. A few more keystrokes and…done.  
  
“It’s stabilizing.” one of the techs said.  
  
“Well done Miss Price.” Blaire said.  
  
Chloe nodded, trying to ignore the thrashing man in that sphere they hooked him into.  
  
When her shift was over she went back to the sever room to retrieve her laptop.  
  
“Miss Price.” Jeremy Blaire tsked from the corner. “I must say I should have known looking at your background.” She turned to run but was stopped by a security guard who shoved her against the wall.  
  
“Fuck off.” she said through clenched teeth.  
  
“Manners manners. Now what are we going to do about this.” he asked as he dropped her laptop on the floor.  
  
“Fuck you asshole that shit was expensive.” One of the guards made a move towards her.  
  
“No, no.” Blaire said, “Miss Price what am I gonna do?” He stood and paced for a moment. Still on the ground, Chloe was terrified, she was so fucked. “I know.” he turned to a security guard. “Mister Johnson, did you just hear Miss Price voluntarily commit herself?”  
  
‘What?’  
  
“Yes sir I did.” the guard said with a smile. Oh fuck no.  
  
“Did you also hear her volunteer to be tested by the Morphogenic Engine?” Oh no fucking way.  
  
“I did.”  
  
“Thank you for your service Miss-”  
  
Chloe shot up, her foot lashing up to catch the security guard in the crotch. He fell to the ground groaning as Chloe ran for the door. She made for the exit when she felt two prongs hit her in the back. She fell to the ground twitching, as another security guard, taser still drawn came up to her.  
  
“Big mistake girl.” he said raising his boot. That was the last thing Chloe saw before she was knocked out.  
  
Chloe woke up to find herself strapped to a chair, wearing the same smelly clothes that all the patients wore and…’OH FUCK THEM, DID THEY SHAVE MY FUCKING HEAD?’ Oh these bastards were gonna pay for that. Looking around the room, the first thing she saw was a camcorder pointing at her. ‘Fuck I am fucked.’ she looked up and saw a projector screen ‘Fuck I am beyond fucked.’  
  
One of the doctors came in, “Hey baldy, ready for your first day?”  
  
“Fuck you!” Chloe screamed, hoping she sounded braver than she felt. If she got out of this, she was gonna go Imperator Furiosa on this guy’s ass  
  
“Shut up bitch!” the doctor yelled, “Let’s see how you are after our home movie.” The projector started to hum and a…rorschach test shone on the screen. ‘Really?’ Chloe thought, ‘What the fu-’ a loud buzzing noise filled the room. It seemed like it was coming from the screen. Chloe shut her eyes; but it didn’t help, the buzzing grew louder and louder till Chloe thought it would split her skull. It shut off suddenly, leaving her gasping for breath. She fell forward, sweat dripping off her brow. “Well done!” the doctor sneered. “Fifteen seconds is pretty good for a first session.” Chloe looked up weakly, ‘That was only fifteen seconds?’ “Don’t worry, the next sessions will last much longer.” Chloe shuddered in fear, what the fuck was she gonna do?  
  
The tests got worse. Chloe didn’t know how much time had passed, didn’t know what they’d told her parents. Recently Doctor McAssface had taken to putting electrodes on her head to measure brain waves. Every session Chloe felt the spike in her mind grow worse and worse. The screen had started to affect her even when she wasn’t tied to the chair, some nights she thought she could see the images from the projector screen flashing in front of her. Closing her eyes didn’t help, nothing helped.  
  
Chloe didn’t sleep much.  
  
One day…or night, she was brought back into the room, one guard gripping her upper arm tight, Doctor McAssface was waiting.  
  
“Well Price, are you ready for your last day?” She looked at him, no way they were letting her go. “Yes!” he cried out cheerfully, “Today we break your mind completely, and tomorrow? The Engine!” Chloe felt like she was going to be sick, now fucking way she was gonna let this happen. “Now I bet you’re wondering how this is gonna happen right?”  
  
Chloe struggled a bit, but eventually found her voice, “I wasn’t wondering actually asshole.”  
  
The doctor smiled, “I’m so going to miss your sarcastic little self.” he said as he picked up something from the table next to him. “You’re going to be a good girl and wear this okay?” Chloe felt her knees grow weak, in his hand he held one of those things that help people eyelids open. “Are you going to be good?” the doctor asked as he stepped closer to her.  
  
“FUCK NO!” Chloe shouted as the hand-to-hand David taught her when she was in high school came back to her. She stomped on the guards’ foot with her heel while snapping up her other foot to kick Doctor McAssface in the crotch ‘Damn that felt good.’ Chloe then hit the guard in the side of her head with the elbow he didn’t have pinned. Now he let her go, Chloe spun away from him and kicked him once in the crotch and as he crouched down kicked him again in the face. She turned and stomped on the doctors’ wrist, shattering bone. She saw the metal thing he was going to put on her and stomped on it too and threw it against the wall. She ran towards the door only to be stopped by more doctors and guards, she tried to fight them off, but there were too many.  
  
“I’LL KILL YOU, I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” she screamed, as one of the guards jammed his taser into her side. When Chloe woke up she was being pushed in a wheelchair, led by guards and the doctor, now wearing a cast, down a long hallway inside the asylum. She looked down and saw she was wearing a straightjacket.  
  
“Oh you’re awake.” the doctor sneered. “You crazy bitch, I can’t believe you broke my wrist. Well. now you’ve done it, no more experiments for you, instead, we’re throwing you in a padded cell and throwing away the fucking key.” he stopped and smiled down at her, “Hell, we might even forget you’re down there.” Chloe was preparing to spit in the assholes face when a loud booming noise echoed throughout the building.  
  
“What the hell?” one of the guards asked. There was the sound of alarms and doors sliding open and a piercing sound like a scream that filled the air.  
  
“Oh my god.” the doctor said softly, “The variants, they’re out, RUN FUCKING RUN!” Chloe tried desperately to turn. Behind her she heard screaming and tearing like she was in the middle of a goddamn horror movie, one of the guards shoved Chloe off her wheelchair, her head hit the ground and right before Chloe lost consciousness she could have sworn she saw The Hulk ripping off Doctor McAssface’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is up with these girls and getting knocked out?  
> Next chapter has our heroines pairing up so be excited for that!


	5. The Place You Need to Reach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe (literally) stumbles upon a friend from High School and Max meets the dream woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from Hozier's "Arsonist's Lullaby"
> 
> Heavy trigger warning for severe dissociation in this chapter  
> EDIT: changed the formatting on the dissociation scene a bit cause it didn't transfer correctly from word

Vic was pissed as hell. Once she woke up she tried the front doors, which were locked with security locks straight out of Fort Knox or some shit, she went to the front desk to try to unlock them but just as she was about to she saw the wannabe priest on a security camera shut off the power. So here she was, in the basement trying to turn the power back on, the only available light being her cameras infrared.  
  
God fuck this place. On her way down she’d seen heads, guts, and everything else. One dudes body was stuffed into an air vent. There were even two naked dudes going around casually talking like they were walking in the mall. And the smell. God the smell of blood was everywhere…to be honest Vic was kind of getting used to it, same with the bodies.  
  
If she wasn’t so fucking terrified she’d be worried about that.  
  
She had already primed the gas pumps, now she just needed to turn on the breaker. Crouched down, she creeped back to the it. Vic jumped in shock as the breaker came back on, the room was now bathed in light. One of the assholes that was down there saw Vic and ran towards her. Vic turned and ran, vaulting over decks and squeezing between cracks in walls. She was back in the hall to the entrance when two figures stood at the other end. ‘Fuck it’s the dick twins.’ Vic turned, hoping they didn’t see her and tried to find another way around. She ended up in another air vent ‘the fuck am I, Bruce Willis?’ and dropped down into another hallway farther back in the asylum. Vic creeped along, eventually, she stopped at a security office. The windows were shattered and files from overturned cabinets littered the floor. The cameras were all down save one that showed an elevator on the third floor. All the phones were dead and the consoles smashed beyond repair. Sighing, Vic turned to leave as a file on the floor caught her eye.  
  
“Maxine Caulfield.” she muttered to herself, “Where have I heard that name?” She thumbed through the file, curious. The more she read, the madder she got. “Those fucking bastards!” she said through gritted teeth. Lastly, she came to the patient photo, and Victoria’s heart shattered. She remembered where she had heard that name. Maxine Caulfield was Chloe’s ex, the one who had a heart attack or stroke, she couldn’t remember; and dropped off the face of the earth. Max’s parents wouldn’t let Chloe see her, eventually they blocked Chloe’s number.  
  
Victoria thought back to Blackwell. Chloe had been a wreck her first year. Her dorm was right next to Chloe’s, she lost count of the nights she’d wake up to the sounds of the other girl sobbing next door. Vic stared at Max’s picture, the smiling brunette Chloe had shown her pictures of was no longer there. The woman in the picture looked practically emaciated. Pale, drawn skin. Dim, half-closed eyes. A bald head still red and raw from shaving. Vic’s hands shook in rage. Those bastards were torturing this poor woman. Vic took the file and stuck it into her bag, she had to get out, share this story, fuck Murkoff for what they did to this woman and everyone else here. whatever project they were working on here, it needed to be burnt to the fucking ground.  
  
She had to get out and tell her friend what happened to Max.  
  
Fuck was Max still here? Fuck escaping for now, Vic had to find Max and save her from this nightmare. Get her back to Chloe. Max’s file said she was being held near the chapel, so that’s where Vic was going. There was a map on the wall. Through the courtyard, past the cells, then the chapel. She could do it.  
  
She was Victoria Fucking Chase, and Victoria Chase could do anything.  
  
#  
  
Chloe woke slowly, head still spinning from the fall to the floor. She sat up slowly, trying to get her bearings. She didn’t know where she was, she had never been allowed up into the asylum; all she could remember was something about cells. Leaning against the wall, Chloe looked around. There was blood on the walls and bodies were strewn around the room. ‘Fuck, did those tests really fuck with my head that much?’ The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was Doctor McAssface getting his head ripped off, Chloe pushed herself up, much harder to do wearing a straightjacket, and walked down the hallway. She only took a few steps till she saw him.  
  
“You deserved worse asshole.” Chloe said to the head of the doctor before giving it a kick down the hallway. “Okay, okay so this is real.” Chloe’s breath started to quicken, fuck this was not good. Steeling herself, she thought of what she needed to do next. ‘Okay, first things first, get out of this damn straightjacket. Second, find out where the fuck I am. Third, get the fuck out of here, go see mom and dad- she stopped and thought of a girl she hadn’t seen in years- and find out what happened to Max.’ The unexpected thought brought tears to Chloe’s eyes, ten years later she still loved that girl, she needed to find her. Chloe continued down the hallway, creeping slowly looking for anything useful.  
  
She eventually made it to an office looking room, she was about to walk in the door when she heard shattering glass.  
  
“Fuck.” a voice hissed. Chloe stopped, that didn’t sound like a crazy dude, it sounded like a woman, a woman she…oh fuck no. Chloe pushed the door open with her shoulder, as the door creaked the woman spun around in fear.  
  
“Vic?” Chloe asked, “Is that you?”  
  
Victoria couldn’t believe it, Chloe Price, bald, in a straightjacket, in front of her. Could this be real? “Chlo?”  
  
Chloe nearly sobbed in relief, she couldn’t believe it, the stress and pain of the last month came pouring out like a waterfall and before she knew it, Vic was hugging her, the two women crying into each other’s shoulders.  
  
“Let’s get this fucking jacket off you.” Vic said wiping tears from her eyes.  
  
Chloe laughed in between sobs, “Geez Tori, not even reunited for five minutes and you already want to get my clothes off.”  
  
“Can you blame me? Never did get to at Blackwell.” Once Chloe’s arms were free she hugged Victoria close, neither spoke as they embraced.  
  
“Vic what the fuck are you doing here?”  
  
“I came across this e-mail from some IT person here, said that something was going wrong- Chloe what is it?” Chloe took a step back, eyes fresh with tears.  
  
“Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.”  
  
In a flash, Vic understood. “You’re the whistleblower.” Chloe nodded, she did this, she brought one of her best friends to this hellhole, she looked at the bruises around Victoria’s face, the marks around her neck, she did that. Before Chloe could do anything Victoria was hugging her again.  
  
“I know you Price, don’t you dare blame yourself for this. I’m a goddamn adult and I chose to come here, you didn’t make me.”  
  
Chloe nodded slowly, “But if I hadn’t sent that e-mail, then, then-”  
  
“Then these assholes would keep hurting people.” Vic stopped, thinking of the folder in her bag.  
  
“Vic? What is it?” Vic’s hand went to the folder.  
  
“Chlo, you remember Max?”  
  
“Max my first love, my first kiss? Who had a stroke then her parents blocked my number and moved? Vic why are you bringing her up right now?”  
  
“She’s here.”  
  
The blood drained from Chloe’s face, “What?”  
  
Vic slowly handed her the folder, “I- I found this and Chloe, it’s really bad.” Chloe took the file, gasping as she saw Max’s name. She saw everything. Max’s stroke and how she told everyone she could control time, her being institutionalized for years and her off the chart brain waves. Finally how Murkoff got wind of her and wanted to use her on the Morphogenic Engine; how they told her parents that she died of a stroke and gave them a fake body then told Max that her parents had died so they could run tests on her. Chloe felt like she was going to be sick, how the fuck could they do this to Max? To anyone?  
  
Just when it couldn’t get any worse Chloe saw Max’s picture, her hand covered her mouth, trying to keep in her tears. Max looked dead. Chloe could hardly recognize the woman in front of her.  
  
Without saying a word Victoria wrapped Chloe in a hug and just let her friend cry. Once the tears stopped she looked at Vic with a new determination.  
  
“I have to find her Tori.”  
  
“I know, that’s why I’m over here, I thought I’d find her by the chapel. Hey, we’ll find her okay?”  
  
Chloe nodded, “Okay, let’s go.” Hand in hand, the two women went towards the chapel in search of Max Caulfield.  
  
#  
  
Max finally made it through the sewers, she had to escape from a giant who looked like the Incredible Hulk, but she made it. Now, in the male ward, she was even more scared. There were way more crazed patients here than where her ‘room’ was.  
  
Fuck she did not think this through, she needed a map. The sound of chains cut through the silence. Max froze in a panic; the giant was back. Looking around, Max quickly ducked into a restroom. She closed the door and took a step back. Max stopped at the mirror, she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen her reflection. Wiping away the grime, Max looked at herself for the first time in years.  
  
Who was this?  
  
Max waved, seeing the ghostly figure in front of her wave back.  
  
She didn’t even feel like that was her, last time she looked in a mirror she had hair.  
  
Last time she looked in a mirror she was several years younger.  
  
Sk i n  
  
P a l e  
  
d  
  
     r  
  
          a  
  
               w  
  
                    n  
  
e y e s  
  
d i m  
  
b o d y  
  
e m a c i a t e d  
  
SkinEyesFleshBoneSkinEyesFleshBoneSkinEyesFleshBoneSkinEyesFleshBone  
  
S      K     I     N  
  
E          Y          E          S  
  
F               L               E               S               H  
  
B                    O                    N                    E

N  
  
O  
  
T  
  
H  
  
E  
  
R  
  
N  
  
O  
  
T  
  
M  
  
A  
  
X  
  
N  
  
O  
  
T  
  
H  
  
E  
  
R  
  
N  
  
O  
  
T  
  
M  
  
A  
  
X

Max stood, trembling, white knuckles gripping the sink. Eyes wide open staring into the eyes of Not Max.  
  
But it was, it was her.  
  
Max stepped back, Not Max did too, and Max ran, Not Max followed. Max ended up in a bedroom, Max crawled under the bed, curling herself into a ball and cried. Not Max cried too.  
  
Who was she?  
  
She couldn’t even recognize herself, how long had she been here?  
  
‘How old am I?’ she thought to herself. She couldn’t remember the last birthday she had. Couldn’t remember what it felt like to be touched.  
  
‘Am I even real?’ she wondered.  
  
Under the bed, she cried softly, wishing she could stay under it forever.  
  
#  
  
Kate moved boldly through the male ward, dodging crazed patients all the way. She was focused on just one thing, the woman with the blue eyes.  
  
That woman. Kate couldn’t explain it, but she felt a connection to her, a connection she hadn’t felt with anyone since her days at Blackwell. But first she had to find out where the woman was. Kate paused near a bathroom, letting a patient brandishing a pipe walk by. She was about to walk on when she heard a soft, choking sob. She stopped and turned back to the room she just passed. Slowly, she opened the door, no one inside. Kate assumed she was just hearing things and was about to leave when she heard it again. It was crying, coming from under the bed.  
  
“Hello?” Kate called out softly, she knew it was foolish but she was never able to walk away from someone who was hurting. Slowly, she bent down, looking under the bed.  
  
Kate gasped, it was a miracle, here she was, going to find the woman with the blue eyes, and she just happened to find her here.  
  
“Hello.” she said with a smile. “I’ve been looking for you.”  
  
Max listened to the woman’s words, but almost didn’t believe them. The singing woman from her dreams was right here in front of her. But she couldn’t be real, could she?  
  
Kate bit her lip, the woman was terrified. “It’s okay,” calm as she could, “Come out, I won’t hurt you.”  
  
‘Well you have to move sometime.’ a voice in Max’s head told her. Slowly, Max crawled out from under the bed. The woman was sitting cross-legged, smile warm and welcoming.  
  
“Hello.” she said.  
  
Max opened her mouth to speak, when she did, it came out as a croak, “Are you real?”  
  
Kate sighed quietly, the woman was clearly dissociating, “Yes I am real, here, let’s try something; What can you can see.”  
  
Max closed her eyes for a moment, “Uh, I see you, your hair looks soft.”  
  
Kate smiled encouragingly, “That’s good, what can you touch.” Max rubbed her hands on the carpet. “The carpet, it’s rough, scratchy.” She reached a hand up to Kate’s face. “I can feel you.”  
  
Kate blushed as the woman touched her, it had been years since another woman had touched her. “Okay.” she tried getting focused again. “Now what can you smell?”  
  
Max steadied herself, trying to focus, “Dust. the air, it’s stale.”  
  
“That’s very good, now last one; what can you taste?” Max pressed her lips to her own hand, “Sweat, it’s salty and gross.”  
  
“Do you feel better?” the dream woman asked.  
  
Amazingly Max did, it was like she was anchored, part of her own body again’ even though she didn’t recognize that body. “Yes.” she finally said, the woman smiled.  
  
“What’s your name?”  
  
“Max, Max Caulfield.”  
  
Kate smiled, happy to have a name to go with the face, “Max Caulfield, it’s nice to meet you. I’m here to get you out.” Max slowly shook the woman’s hand.  
  
“What’s your name?” she asked, as the two stood.  
  
“Oh sorry.” the woman said blushing lightly, “My name’s Kate, Kate Marsh.”  
  
Max almost collapsed, it couldn’t be Kate, this couldn’t be but… Max took a closer look at the woman, her hair, out of the bun Max was familiar with now fell loosely around her shoulders. Her eyes were just as kind as always; she had the same gentle spirit that Max always felt calmer around.  
  
“Max? Are you okay?” Kate asked.  
  
Max wiped at her eyes, she didn’t even realize she was crying. Kate desperately wanted to just hug this woman, but she didn’t want to push any boundaries.  
  
“Max?” Max turned her attention towards Kate, Kate Marsh, her friend, trying to stop the tears. “Max, can I hug you?”  
  
Max froze, “I can’t remember what a hug even feels like.” she said through her tears.  
  
Kate gasped, no one deserved to feel this way, no one deserved this cruelty. Stepping towards Max, Kate hugged her with all her might, trying to let every ounce of warmth and kindness she had show in that hug.  
  
Max cried as Kate hugged her, the embrace feeling like a distant memory to her. She weakly hugged Kate back, never wanting to let go.  
  
She did let go, eventually, Kate did too; taking Max’s hand in hers she swore to Max that she would help her get out of this place. With her mind functioning more normally, well, normal for a drugged-out psych patient, Max’s curiosity came forward.  
  
“What are you doing here?” she asked Kate.  
  
In front of her, Kate grimaced, “My mother, she got me this job with a friend of our Pastor; she hoped that being here would ‘cleanse me of my sinful homosexuality’.” Max almost choked, Kate was gay? Wowsers.  
  
“Sorry, about your mom.” Max stammered.  
  
Kate looked back at her, “This whole thing has made me realize I just need to tell her off; life’s too short to be unhappy. I’m a lesbian, I’ve known that since Senior High.” she smiled, “What better way to cast off my chains than rescuing a beautiful woman?”  
  
This time Max did stumble, she was in an asylum full of crazy murderers, being rescued by one of her high school crushes, by KATE MARSH, who brought her down from one of the worst dissociation episodes she’d ever had, and now she was flirting with her?  
  
“Are you okay?” Kate asked, concerned.  
  
“Yeah yeah.” Max whispered blushing. “So. Senior High huh?” she asked, desperate to know more.  
  
“One of the best times of my life.” Kate said. Max smiled to herself, she really did it, she eliminated that awful timeline completely. “I had really great friends.” she said smiling, “When we get out of here, I’ll introduce you to them.”  
  
“I’d like that Kate.” Max said, squeezing the other woman’s hand tightly, ignoring the carnage around them as they made their way through the asylum. Max wondered if Chloe was one of the friends Kate was talking about; she thought about asking but decided against it, her mind needed a break from all the shocks. Looking at the headless guy they just passed, Max knew that was unrealistic. Gripping Kate’s hand tighter, the two pressed on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More coming soon!  
> Follow me on tumblr @theduchessunseen to ask questions and stay tuned for more!  
> EDIT: I'm thinking of changing the name of the fic, to a song lyric, thoughts?


	6. Show Me My Silver Lining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from "Silver Lining" by First Aid Kit.
> 
> Chloe and Vic find out more about Murkoff's goals and the mysterious Walrider and come face-to-face with a terrifying killer.  
> Kate and Max discover why Murkoff is so interested in Max.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usual triggers apply as well as someone almost being burned alive.
> 
> For those of you familiar with Outlast, this chapter takes the biggest departure from Outlast lore, I needed Max to be very important to Murkoff and this is what I came up with; I hope it pans out well.

Vic and Chloe finally made it to where Max’s file said her room was.  
  
“Vic,” Chloe said, gripping the other woman’s arm tightly, “Go in for me, I- I can’t go in there and see her dead body, I just can’t.”  
  
Vic nodded, “Okay, I’ll be right back.” She opened the heavy door to reveal a padded cell, a simple mattress in one corner and a toilet in the other. And… “She’s not in here Chloe.” Victoria called softly  
  
Chloe took a deep breath and walked in. “Fuck this is where she’s been?” Chloe looked around, mouth open in shock. All over the walls drawn in simple, washable marker were pictures of Chloe. Chloe when they were both young, the two of them at the International Fountain Chloe practically ran out of the room. Vic followed her out, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
“We’ll find her okay?”  
  
“How, we don’t even know where she is.”  
  
Vic pursed her lips, “Let’s start over here.” she said, gesturing to a nearby computer, unlike the others she had seen, this one seemed to be untouched. Chloe sat down, eager to have something to distract her. They hadn’t bothered to erase her information and she got into the system easily. Browsing through the files, Chloe stopped at something called WALRIDER. She opened it and began to skim through.  
  
“This, this doesn’t make sense.” she said, “This is talking about nanite-swarms and psychosomatic therapy. Lucid dreaming…” Chloe trailed off as she continued to read. “Jesus Christ.”  
  
Vic looked back at her, “What?”  
  
“This says that they were using the engine down in the caverns to induce psychosomatic states in the patients so that they could use them to control nanite swarms.” Vic stared at her incredulously. “There’s only one entry left, it says that this thing called the Walrider escaped and with it the ‘Variants’ did too. The Variants must be the patients that the engine affected.” Chloe thought of all the tests that had been done to her.  
  
“Chloe?” Vic asked, “Chloe what is it?” Chloe didn’t realize how tense she was till Victoria put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Chloe took a shaky breath.  
  
“That was going to be me.” she said quietly, “They were running tests on me, made me watch this…projection that made me feel like I was going crazy. There were flashes somedays, on the bad days, when I was screaming and crying and I thought I was going to die. It’s like someone was taking pictures.”  
  
“Oh honey.” Vic said wrapping her arms around Chloe, “You’re safe now, they can’t do that anymore.”  
  
Chloe nodded, feeling herself relax. She always could around Vic. Hell, sometimes she thought Vic was the only reason she got through Blackwell. Rachel and Kate and the rest of her friends were all great, but Vic had this understanding about her. She knew when Chloe needed someone to talk to; but also, just when she needed a presence, not to say anything, just to be there.  
  
“Here’s the last security video.” Chloe said, trying to focus. The video came on with a burst of static. “That’s the front desk at the entrance of the caverns.” Chloe muttered. Six men dressed in SWAT gear came off the elevator, guns raised to their shoulders. There was a shape like a cloud of flies that took shape for a second before darting to the nearest man, throwing him against the wall, letting him slump to the floor. The men tried to shoot at the cloud but it was impossible. Chloe and Vic watched in silence as it tore the men apart limb from limb, smearing their blood like finger-paint against the walls.  
  
“Jesus Christ.” Chloe said as the video ended.  
  
Vic nodded, “We’ve gotta get the hell out of here. Can you get security camera feeds?”  
  
“Yeah should be easy enough.” Chloe said as she began to type. She pulled up feeds from the still working cameras, clicking through them, hoping to see Max, alive. They were about halfway through when Chloe stopped. “Did you see that?” she asked.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Here wait.” Chloe said advancing to the next camera, “Is that her?” From the camera, they saw two women, one in scrubs, the other in a hospital gown slowly walking down a flight of stairs. Vic squinted at the bald woman.  
  
“It is her.” she said, a smile slowly forming on her face. “Where is that?”  
  
Chloe looked at the corner of the screen, “Uh, the kitchens.”  
  
“Fuck.”  
  
“Yeah. Not to mention now we have to worry about some sci-fi cloud that may kill us.”  
  
“The courtyard is a nightmare, it’s so dark I could hardly make it through, is there another way?”  
  
“Hold on.” Chloe pulled up a map, “Yeah, we can go through the basement, from there we can up the sewers to the ward.”  
  
“Sewers, great.”  
  
“What’s the matter Vicky?” Chloe teased, “Don’t want to ruin your shoes.”  
  
“My shoes cost more than your car Price.” Vic played along. The pair smiled for a minute.  
  
“You ready?” Vic asked.  
  
“In a second.” Chloe replied as she reached down to the hard drive.  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
“Well, I don’t see any flash drives, so I’m taking the whole hard drive. We’re gonna need evidence against these fuckers…here.” she said as she handed the internal hard drive to Vic. Vic searched the drawers for a large plastic bag to put the drive and Max’s file in, the last thing they needed was to get their evidence covered in shit.  
  
“Okay.” she said as she put the secured bundle in her bag, “Let’s go.”  
  
They made it through the building easily enough, only having to stop once or twice to let a variant pass by. They held hands the whole time, like children afraid of the dark. Every sound made them flinch, terrified that around the corner some knife-wielding maniac was waiting for them.  
  
The spiral staircase leading down to the basement was tucked in a corner and hewn from stone. Chloe and Vic stared at the narrow passage, neither spoke. Looking at each other, they stepped into the darkness, Vic leading the way.  
  
“What was that line from Dante?” Vic whispered back to Chloe  
  
“Abandon hope ye who enter here.” Chloe said, “You thinking of Ms. Platt’s English class?”  
  
Vic nodded, “One of my favorite classes, it was where I met you.”  
  
Chloe couldn’t help blushing, “God that project.” They made it down the stairs, light from a nearby fire throwing eerie shadows across the room.  
  
Vic stifled a laugh, “I thought we were gonna kill each other, God I was such a bitch.”  
  
“Well I wasn’t exactly the nicest either.” Chloe admitted.  
  
“What do we have here?” The two froze in the darkness, trying to find the source of the voice. “The short one got away from me, but you won’t. Two meals!” There was the sound of a saw as the variant jumped out of the shadows.  
“RUN!” Chloe screamed, grabbing Victoria’s hand.  
  
“I’ll get you!!” the man screamed, slashing at them with the saw. They ran through the basement, trying to escape. Ahead was a metal door, squeezing in, they found themselves in a scene straight out of hell. Three ovens were in the opposite wall, gaping open like the mouth of a dragon. The cremation chamber.  
  
“Holy fuck he wants to eat us.” Victoria said, knees shaking in fear.  
  
“Look!” Chloe said, pointing to a ladder set in the wall. It led on top of the furnaces and dropped down to the other side. “We can get-”  
  
The door slammed open, knocking the two women over. The variant stalked into the room, kicking Victoria in the ribs, she fell to the floor wheezing.  
  
“Baldy first.” Setting his saw down, he grabbed Chloe, heaving her onto one of the long metal trays. Chloe desperately tried to get away but he was too strong, with a shove, he pushed the tray into the furnace and slammed the door. Vic screamed in terror, he turned and picking up his saw, moved towards her. Vic ran for the ladder, scrambling up it as the saw barely missed her feet. She dropped down to the other side, seeing the bricks at the back of the furnace starting to shift.  
  
Chloe felt like she was melting, if she still had hair she was sure it would have burned off by now. Once the fucker shut the door Chloe had immediately scooted towards the front of the furnace, the small area where the fire didn’t reach and began ramming her shoulder against the bricks, miraculously, they were loose. She was still ramming them, but she could feel herself starting to weaken. A pair of hands suddenly thrust themselves through the small hole Chloe had made and began clawing at the bricks. ‘Victoria.’ Chloe thought.  
  
Once Chloe’s shoulders made it through the hole, Vic grabbed her under them and pulled her out, bricks toppling around them.  
  
Chloe looked like she had been in a war. Her eyebrows were singed, her entire body was covered in soot and sweat, and her shoulder was bloody from ramming it against the bricks.  
  
Chloe curled up into Victoria’s arms, her entire body shaking with wracking sobs.  
  
“It’s okay, it’s okay Chloe.” she said, rubbing her hands gently down Chloe’s red-hot skin.  
  
“He- he- he tried to, he tried to burn me alive.”  
  
Victoria held Chloe closer, kissing the top of her forehead. “It’s over now, okay babe. I won’t let anyone else hurt you.”  
  
Chloe nodded slowly, still sniffling. “Okay. Okay.”  
  
“NO ONE GETS AWAY!” the variant shouted from the top of the furnace.  
  
“Fuck no.” Vic said as she lifted an unsteady Chloe up off her feet. The variant jumped down, saw in hand. Vic and Chloe ran in opposite directions, not sure who to follow, he swung wildly, missing them both. Chloe saw the opening and tackled him to the ground.  
  
“NO ONE TRIES TO COOK ME MOTHERFUCKER!” she screamed in rage, pummeling him with her fists.

He threw Chloe off, trying to stand up but before he could, Vic was on top of him; brick in hand she hit him in the face again and again and again till finally he stopped moving.  
  
Breathing heavily, Vic stood and let the brick drop from her blood-covered hands. “Chloe?” she asked, turning around. The other woman was picking herself up off the floor, Vic ran to help her up, one of Chloe’s arms over her shoulders.  
  
“Are you okay?” Vic asked.  
  
Chloe gave a short laugh, “Better now that that fucker’s dead.” she replied, “Let’s get the fuck out of this room. Victoria couldn’t agree more, helping Chloe along as she wiped the blood off on her jacket. Arms linked, they continued on into the sewers.  
  
Breathing heavily, Vic helped Chloe up the narrow ladder into the male ward.  
  
“Let’s rest a minute.” she said, sinking against the wall. Chloe sat next to her, resting her head on Vic’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I need water.” Chloe croaked, “I feel- I feel so-”  
  
“Don’t worry Chlo, I’ll get you.” Vic said, hoisting the other woman over her shoulders, she stood and walked into the male ward, searching for water. She finally found some, the cooler in a break room. Vic set Chloe down and filled a paper cup with water, gently pouring it over Chloe’s face.  
  
“Fuck that feels good.” Chloe gasped.  
  
Vic was back in an instant, lifting the cup to Chloe’s lips. Chloe greedily drank, feeling like each gulp was bringing life back into her. She lost count of how many cups she drank, just sitting there, letting Vic give her water.  
  
“That’s better.” she said finally. The two sat there when suddenly the sprinklers came on. “What the-?” Chloe said, not sure if she was hallucinating.  
  
“Guess there was a fire.” Vic muttered, “You’ll be nice and wet now.”  
  
Chloe cackled and soon Vic was laughing too, after the furnace it felt good to laugh.  
  
“Help me up nerd.” Chloe said holding up her hand, “Let’s get out of here, Max should be close.”  
  
#  
  
Earlier…  
  
Max and Kate ran through the male ward at breakneck speeds. They had made it to the elevator only to find it out of order; Max noticed a nearby fuse box with a fuse missing. So, they set off in search of one. They had found it when one of the patients opened the door in front of them and immediately gave chase. Kate and Max ran, not knowing where they were going. just trying to escape the patient.  
  
“Did we lose him?” a panting Kate asked.  
  
“I think so.” Max said, still clutching the fuse in her hand, “Where are we?”  
  
Kate looked around, they were in some sort of…movie theater, a cacophony of strange images flowing across the screen. “I have no idea.” she admitted, moving a little closer to Max. They started walking towards the back of the theater, the light from the next room shining onto a raised portion of the back of the room. There was a hiss and both girls jumped in shock as the voice of an elderly German man began to fill the room.  
  
“It warns of a nanohazard. Microscopic machines, technology we have had for decades, but never mastered. Murkoff discovered, in my research, a work-a-round. Turning the cells of human bodies into nanofactories. It's the natural function of cells to produce molecules, but through psychosomatic direction, we engineered the precise molecules necessary. Mind over body.”  
  
“What is this?” Kate asked, but Max didn’t answer, she was transfixed on the screen.  
  
“But to engineer minds the way we wanted to the Morphogenic Engine needed to be capable of generating great power. Such a force did not exist then, still does not. So, since technology failed, the Nazi’s turned to mythology for their engine. You see, they surmised that since a man-made computer would not power the engine they would use the strongest computer they could: the human brain. But it was clear an average brain would not do so they sent out expeditions looking for something with a powerful enough mind to harness the engine.”  
  
A new voice, American, crackled, “And what did they find?”  
  
The other man coughed, “A being from legends, the Ahnenerbe brought it in chains and it was suspended it in the center of the engine. But as I said, the technology did not work, the war ended and the engine, the being, and all my research was brought to the United States. I don’t know how Murkoff got hold of the equipment, but they did, and they contacted me; asking me to consult on the project.”  
  
“What did you discover?”  
  
“The Engine is failing. The Director, he pushed too hard at the beginning, put too much stress on it. So, I told him that he needed a new power source, another being with incredible power.”  
  
“Max? MAX?” Max heard Kate calling her, but she seemed far…away-  
  
Max was…falling, falling…dear god…that’s why they wanted her.  
  
Max woke to a gentle hand against her face. As her eyes fluttered open she saw Kate looking down at her, face beaming in relief. Max’s heart melted a little at the sight. Ten years after Max had known her she was even more beautiful, even sweaty from running all over the asylum she still looked angelic.  
  
“Max, can you hear me?” Max nodded slowly. “Okay good, just take it easy.” she said, “Are you ready to sit up?”  
  
“Yeah.” Max said quietly as Kate slowly sat her up, back leaning against a wall. As her eyes adjusted to the light she saw that they were in the room above the theater, the door thankfully closed.  
  
“I was so worried about you when you fell; I barely had time to catch you.”  
  
Max’s eyes widened, “You caught me?”  
  
“Well I wasn’t gonna let you fall.” Kate said blushing.  
  
Max grinned back at her before she remembered what the man on the recording said.  
  
“Max?”  
  
“It was me.” she said softly. “I was supposed to be the new engine.” Kate looked at her, confused. “One of the things that the doctors said after I was institutionalized was that my brain waves were off the charts. They wanted to plug me into-” she broke down into tears.  
  
“Shh, shh..” Kate said, pulling Max close to her, not unlike Max once held Kate on a rooftop. “You’re safe now okay? I won’t let them hurt you okay?” Max nodded, her face pressed against Kate’s shoulder. “Let’s go okay? We can trace our way back to the elevator, I think from there we can get to the kitchens.” Max nodded, she didn’t care where they went, as long as it was away from here.  
  
Kate held Max’s hand. With all Max had been through Kate knew she needed as much reassurance as possible.  
  
They eventually made it back to the fuse box and replaced it, letting the elevator take them down to the first floor. They were silent as the cage moved down, both preoccupied by their own thoughts. Max still reeling from the films revelations, Kate hoping, praying that she would have the strength to get Max out of the asylum. Thankfully no patients were waiting as they got off the elevator.  
  
“Do you smell smoke?” Max asked. Kate sniffed the air as they walked along.  
  
“Yeah I…do.” the pair stood in shock as they rounded a corner, the kitchens were engulfed in flame.  
  
“Come on.” Max said, grabbing Kate’s hand, it looks like we can get through here.”  
  
“Wait.” Kate began searching the cabinets nearby until she found two hand towels. Staying low to the ground, she made her way to a sink and soaked them. “Here, put this over your mouth.” she told Max, handing her a towel. Max took it, grateful that Kate had thought about smoke inhalation.  
  
Leading the way, Kate weaved a safe path through the flames. The Christian imagery was not lost on her. They made it through the kitchens and were in the mess when they saw a man sitting on one of the tables. Kate recognized him as one of her patients, he didn’t seem to be affected like the others.  
  
“Miss Marsh.” he said shocked. “Thank God you got out alive.” he began coughing violently and Kate ran over, offering him her hand towel. “No. I set the fire on purpose…this place, it needs to burn. All of it. It needs to be wiped from the face of the earth.” He looked at her and Max, his eyes red with tears. “If you need to get out the sprinkler valve is that way.” he gestured to their left, “Then beyond the doors you should be able to get to the main building. I’m staying here…there’s just no point. Thank you, Miss Marsh, for your kindness.” Kate put her hand on the man’s shoulder and he gave her the smallest of smiles before she let Max pull her towards the sprinkler valve. They found it quickly and as water began to rain from overhead they shared a smile, hopefully it wouldn’t be much longer. Kate tried not to think of the man in the kitchen as they made their way to the large double doors leading out of the kitchen.  
  
Sprinklers finally dripping to a stop, they made their way to an office when a loud cackle made them freeze.  
  
“Help me up nerd. Let’s get out of here, Max should be close.” they heard a woman’s voice say.  
  
Kate and Max went into the office and stopped dead in their tracks.  
  
Vic pulled Chloe to her feet then noticed the shocked look on her friends’ face. “Chloe, what is-” she stopped as she turned around, looking at the two women in the doorway, each equally dirty, one in a grubby hospital gown, head shaved, and the other in scrubs that probably used to be blue, long blonde…holy fuck.  
  
“Chloe?” the bald woman said in a quiet voice, almost like she didn’t believe what she was seeing.  
  
Chloe tried to talk but couldn’t. She knew Max would be here but…holy shit. Seeing her after so many years, it was unreal.  
  
“Hey Max.” she finally managed. Unable to hold herself back, she rushed into Max’s arms, hugging her tight, tears streaming down her face.  
  
“Chloe.” Max gasped in between sobs, “Are you real are you real are you real?” she kept saying over and over again.  
  
“I’m real Max.” Chloe whispered, as she wiped her tears away.  
  
“Oh my God.” Kate gasped. “You’re Max, oh my God you’re Max.”  
  
“Kate?” Chloe asked, “Holy shit.”  
  
“She saved me.” Max said, reaching out to grab Kate’s hand.  
  
A few steps away, Victoria stood in shock. They found Max, with KATE MARSH of all people. She couldn’t help it, Vic didn’t cry, not in front of others at least, never in front of others but this…this was too much.  
  
“Hello Max.” she finally said, stepping over to the trio, “It’s good to meet you, my name’s Victoria, Victoria Chase, and I’ve heard a lot about you.”  
  
Max felt herself about to faint, holy fucking shit Tori was here too? Not just here but with Chloe?  
  
“Tori?” Kate asked in disbelief.  
  
“Hey Kate.” Victoria said with the slightest of smiles. Holy fuck Kate was beautiful and for the thousandth time since they graduated Vic regretted not asking Kate out. She saw them, Kate and Max holding hands, Chloe still clinging to Max like she was afraid to let her go; and she desperately wanted to be a part of it.  
  
“Get in here Chase.” Chloe finally said, and that was all it took. Victoria practically fell into the triad, one arm around Kate the other around Chloe, she finally let the tears come as they all sank to the floor.  
  
Max looked around at the women around her. Kate was as beautiful as ever, she hadn’t gotten much taller since Blackwell, but with her hair down she looked even more angelic. Victoria holy fuck, unlike Kate she had gotten taller, her features even more defined, she could feel her muscles in her arms as they hugged and Max assumed Vic had one hell of a workout routine. And Chloe. Oh my God her Chloe. Max was too scared to think about why Chloe was bald and in a patient uniform, Chloe too had grown taller, still thin as a rail, still had that damn cocky grin that Max loved. But now Chloe had grown out of her teen gawkiness, her height fit her now and her features looked even more defined than Vic’s.  
  
Max sighed and just let all the pain of the last ten years melt away, at least for this moment.  
  
“So,” Kate finally broke the silence, “how did you two get here?”  
  
They all related their stories, each sharing their fears, the terror they felt as they were alone. Kate and Max couldn’t believe it when Vic told them the big guy threw her; Kate’s hand instantly went up to Vic’s face, checking the bruises and Vic blushed, thankful for the dim lighting. Max cried and they all held her when Chloe told how she was caught then institutionalized.  
  
“I’m so proud of you Chloe.” was all Max could say.  
  
Chloe thanked God that Kate was there for Max and Vic told everyone that she’d seen the dick twins too. When Chloe told the others about her near cremation she began to cry again and all three hugged her even tighter, Max didn’t let go of Chloe at all after that till the taller woman said she needed to take a breath. When they go the part about Vic killing the man Max and Kate looked at her with concern, Kate’s hand tightening around Victoria’s.  
  
Kate told Vic and Chloe all they learned on the recording, how they were using some being to power the engine and needed a new brain to power it. When Kate said that she could swear she saw fire flash in front of Chloe’s eyes.  
  
“What the fuck are they trying to do?” Max asked. Chloe and Vic looked at each other and then told the others all they had found out about the Walrider and how Murkoff was inducing psychosomatic states in the ‘variants’.  
  
“Oh my God.” Kate gasped when they were finished. “What are we going to do? I mean…they can’t get away with this.”  
  
“They won’t.” Vic said, patting her bag.  
  
“Yeah, Vic and I got hella evidence on them.” Chloe affirmed, throwing up her cockiest grin, hoping it would give Kate and Max some reassurance.  
  
“Okay…okay.” Max said, “Let’s get out of here.” The four stood up, and, with Kate and Victoria leading the way, left the office, hopefully a way out wouldn’t be too far ahead.  
  
“Victoria?” Max asked in a quiet voice. The front door had been locked so they had to resort, once again, to the basements.  
  
“Yeah Max?”  
  
“Are you doing okay, goodness what kind of question is that?” she muttered, “I mean…you killed a man, are you okay with that?”  
  
Vic took a second before replying, “Yeah, I mean he was going to fucking eat us so it was either him or us…I didn’t enjoy it if that’s what you mean but I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping you all safe.”  
  
Max grabbed Vic’s hand and held it tight. “Hopefully you won’t have to again.”  
  
“Yeah -uh- thanks Max.” Victoria said. ‘Jesus Price she’s just holding your hand your useless lesbian.’ Vic thought, blushing.  
  
“So.” Kate said, “There should be a flight of stairs ahead that leads to the medical wing.”  
  
There was a crash as a door behind them was flung open and the dick twins ran out, knives held above their heads.  
  
“This way!” Kate shouted as she ran. The four ran as fast as they could, Max and Vic, the two in the back, threw down anything they could to block the twins path. They got to the room leading to the stairs and were on their way up when another variant burst in, knife raised he ran towards Max. Victoria, the last one, slammed into him with her shoulder, knocking him aside and slammed the wrought iron door to the stairwell, separating her from the other three.  
  
“VICTORIA NO!” Chloe, Max and Kate all screamed in unison.  
  
“I’ll meet you upstairs!” she shouted as she ran into another room, just as the twins burst through the door.  
  
‘FUCKFUCKFUCK!’ Vic thought, as she ran into the next room, slamming the door and shoving a heavy metal shelf in front of it. She was so screwed, there was no place to hide here. The door began to shake as the twins battered it. At least the others were safe, at least-”  
  
“Hey! You’re not one of them, are you?” a voice crackled over an intercom. Vic jumped in shock, “Quick!” the man yelled, “Get in the dumbwaiter if you wanna live!” Vic saw the small box in the wall behind herm she didn’t know what to do. The sound of a shelf falling made up her mind for her, she crawled in just as the twins broke down the door. The dumbwaiter made its way up before stopping at the next floor. Vic began to climb out, eager to get out of the cramped space.  
  
“Hey there.” a mans voice shouted and Vic screamed as an absolutely horrifying looking figure jabbed a syringe into her neck, the last thing she felt before the drugs knocked her out was her own body slumping to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEW actions scenes are hard!
> 
> PLEASE leave a comment or kudo, I love them <3 Sorry this chapter took longer than the others, depression has been kicking my ass lately.
> 
> Next chapter gets really really fucked up, so be wary of that, I'll tag properly of course.


	7. The Purest Expression of Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being separated, Kate, Chloe and Max face a variant who says he is searching for a bride while Victoria is captured by a former Mount Massive employee now turned insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW TORTURE/ AMPUTATION
> 
> This is BY FAR the most violent chapter yet. If you've played Outlast, you know what happens here, if you haven't I tried to write in as much buildup as I could so it doesn't come as a surprise so you'll be prepared. I also toned down a lot of Gluskin's role here. His part is not nearly as large or bloody as in the game, I figured this chapter had enough pain already.
> 
> Title is from Hozier's Foreigners God

Max, Chloe and Kate stood, frozen in horror as Vic ran into the next room. They saw the variants slam against the door, screaming, trying to get their attention. They saw the door splinter and a flash of blonde hair as Victoria climbed into the dumbwaiter.  
  
“Thank God.” Kate breathed in relief as they went up the stairs, calmer now that they knew Vic had escaped.  
  
The floor above them was blocked so they went up to the next one. planning on finding another way down and meeting up with Vic. They got to the top of the stairs and were nearly bowled over by a man as he ran past them.  
  
“Come back!” another voice shouted. Turning around, they saw another man, bizarrely dressed in blood splattered slacks and a white shirt. His mouth opened in awe when he saw them. “You.” he said pointing, “You, you’re the one!”  
  
Kate shrunk back in fear, ‘Oh God help me is he pointing at me?’ she thought.  
  
“Your hair…everything, you’re the one!”  
  
‘Yep he’s talking about me.’ Kate thought, dread filling her body.  
  
“Stay away from her!” Max yelled, clutching Kate protectively. Kate was shocked, that was the loudest she’d heard Max speak.  
  
“I’m so sorry that was terribly rude.” the man said, “My name is Eddie, Eddie Gluskin.” Chloe’s blood froze, this was the last man she’d seen thrown in the pod, the one who’d slammed against the glass.  
  
“He’s a variant.” she whispered, “I saw them plug him into the engine myself.” Slowly, the three began to back away.  
  
“Please don’t go.” Gluskin pleaded, “You’re the one, my wife!”  
  
“Fat chance asshole!” Chloe yelled, no way she was letting this dick anywhere near Kate.  
  
“So that’s how it is.” he said, “They’re going to take you from me, well we can fix that!” he ran towards them with a roar.  
  
In the darkness, the three ran, Max and Chloe holding onto Kate’s hands, Gluskin’s heavy footsteps behind them. They turned and ran into a large room; the floor was covered in ropes that stretched towards the high ceiling. None of them could see what the ropes were attached to. Max led them to the next room, a large storage closet filled with desks, chests and wardrobes. They found a dark corner and huddled together, keeping an eye on the doors on either end of the room. Gluskin walked in holding what looked like a large shard of glass in his hand.  
  
“Come back darling!” Gluskin yelled. “I know I made a mistake but I’ll get better I promise!”  
  
None of them breathed as he approached. He growled in frustration.  
  
“Whore! You’re just like the rest of them!” he screamed as walked past them hidden in their corner and out of the room.  
  
“Let’s go!” Kate said, her whole body shaking in fear. They creeped into the large room when Gluskin opened the door behind them.  
  
“Found you!” he yelled, “Time for you to join the others darling.” He said, a noose in his hands. They tried to run but before they could he was on them. Chloe went to punch him, but before she could he grabbed her wrist and shoved her against the wall. Max jumped on his back, screaming for Kate to run. Gluskin grabbed Max and threw her on the ground.  
  
“STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!” Kate yelled, running up to Gluskin, she kicked him, as hard as she could in the crotch. He fell to the ground with a whimper. Kate went over to check on Max when a hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. Now staring up at the ceiling, Kate saw what the ropes were tied to. Bodies. Dozens of them.  
  
As Kate turned over she felt a knee dig into her back, panicking she waited for the noose to slip around her neck. There was a gurgling sound behind her then the weight on her back gone. She scrambled away and turned to see Gluskin on his back, blood seeping from a gash in his neck, Max standing over him, a bloody shard of glass in her hand.  
  
Chloe was the first to move, walking over to the two other women, pulling them into her long arms. Kate felt her knees weaken and began to cry.  
  
“Thank you Max, you saved my life, you saved me. Thank you, thank you thank you.” she said in between sobs.  
  
“You saved mine.” Max responded. “Are you both okay?” she asked, gazing up into Chloe and Kate’s eyes.  
  
Kate nodded, wiping at tears, “More shaken up than anything.” she said, “If you hadn’t-” she stopped, too frightened to even think about what could have happened to her. Max and Chloe each squeezed the other woman, Chloe gently kissing the top of her head.  
  
“What about you Che?” Max asked.  
  
Chloe stammered for a minute, it had been ten years since anyone had called her that. “I’m okay,” she finally managed “Gonna have some hella bruised ribs but that’s it.”  
  
“Are you sure they’re just bruised?” Kate asked, concerned. “Let me take a look at them, they may be cracked.”  
  
“Uh, okay.”  
  
“Let’s get out of this room first.” Kate said, glancing at Gluskin’s body.  
  
The others agreed and left, hand in hand. Neither one looked back at Gluskin’s lifeless eyes staring up at his victims.  
  
“Sit here.” Kate said pointing to a desk in a room near the stairs leading back down to the first floor. Chloe hopped up onto the desk. “Okay, now I’m just going to feel around your ribs all right?”  
  
Chloe nodded, trying not to get flustered as Kate’s fingers slid up her shirt. Max saw Chloe bite her bottom lip, years later she still knew Chloe all too well. She sat up on the desk and began to rub Chloe’s shoulders.  
  
“Relax Che.” she said, whispering in Chloe’s ear, smiling as the taller woman shuddered.  
  
“Okay Chloe,” Kate said more seriously, “I think your ribs are at least cracked, if we can find some medical supplies I’d like to ice them.”  
  
Chloe nodded, Kate’s words bringing her back to reality. “Okay. First let’s go find Vic.”  
  
They made their way downstairs. Thankfully, Kate found a first aid kit in one of the first rooms they passed.  
  
“Wanna tape me up Doc?” Chloe asked, hoping her bravado would distract the others from how much pain she was in.  
  
Kate was about to reply when an ear-splitting scream rang through the building. Before the echoes of the scream faded another scream rang out, ringed with curses and pleas for help. They all stood for a moment before running out of the room. It was a woman’s voice they’d heard.  
  
#  
  
Earlier…  
  
Vic woke up groggily, as her eyes came into focus the first thing she saw were her wrists, bound in leather cuffs and strapped to the arms of a wheelchair. In ordinary circumstances, this situation would be a welcome one, but in this place, it was sheer fucking horror.  
  
“Good you’re awake.” a nasally voice called from behind her. Turning, she recoiled as the man who injected her came into view. His skin looked like it had been flayed off and all he wore was a surgeon’s mask, apron, and hopefully pants. “You’re Father Martin’s ‘witness’ right?” he asked as he went to open the door and no, he was not wearing pants; what the fuck was it with this place? Did the Morphogenic Engine make people hate pants? “Ya know, just between us, I think the good Father is a few disciples short of a dozen.”  
  
“It’s not like I fucking volunteered for the job.” Vic answered, maybe she could talk this guy into letting her go, he seemed more stable than the other people here, he hadn’t stabbed her yet.  
  
“Ah I see, taking the job out of necessity; gotta pay the bills somehow. I get it, I do. Still ya wanna work to live not live to work.” Vic shook her head, this guy talking, almost normally was somehow more unnerving than all the crazy bastards that had been chasing her around this shithole. “All righty.” he said as he stepped behind her, unlocking the chairs wheels. “Ready? Keep your arms and feet inside the cart at all times and off we go!” with a shove, he began pushing her out of the room and into a long hallway. “Name’s Trager by the way and I’m a doctor here so you’re in good hands don’t you worry little lady.” he said as he pushed her along. They stopped at a foyer leading outside, doors wide open, driving wind from the rainstorm buffeting the trees wildly. “I love the mountain air up here at night. You want to head out, take a stroll?” Vic strained against her bounds, trying desperately to free herself. “Go ahead, I'll wait here. Go on, run free. I'm in no hurry. No? Alright.” ‘Fucking bastard.’ Vic thought. “Nose to the grindstone. I like that. Okay then. Right this way.”  
  
A man strapped to a gurney violently thrashed at them, fire in his eyes he groaned in anger. “Oh calm down you weren’t putting that tongue to good use any way.” he said calmly. ‘Oh fuck no.’ Victoria thought, closing her mouth tightly, was he going to do that to her? Fuck. “Truth be told I was just tired of licking my own stamps.” he whispered to her. Fuck this guy was as crazy as everyone else.  
  
He pushed her into an exam room and turned the chair towards the sink. “Nice, home movies!” he said as he put Victoria’s camera on the edge of the sink facing her. The floor was covered in blood and the whole room smelt of blood and piss.  
  
“What are you going to do to me?” Victoria asked, hating the tremor in her voice.  
  
“Don’t worry we’ll be starting your consultation any moment now, just gotta wash up first.” he washed his hands then stepped out of Victoria’s view. She heard the clink of metal and he stepped back-  
  
Victoria’s blood froze and her heart dropped. Trager was holding a wickedly long pair of bone shears, opening and closing them menacingly.  
  
“You know, I’m worried about how much time you’ve been spending around Father Martin.” he said, standing by her right side. “I hope you haven’t been letting his bible thumping holier-than-thou nonsense get to ya’.” Victoria thrashed in her seat, trying to do something, anything to get free. Trager walked around the room, “It's understandable, people get scared, they're as like to turn to God as anything else. God died with the gold standard. We're on to more concrete faith now.” Victoria fought to speak, but no words came, she was too fucking scared to do anything. Trager returned, leaning in close, putting his free hand on Victoria’s right. “You have to rob Paul to pay Peter, there is no other way. Murder in its simplest form, but what happens when all the money is gone?” the shears opened and Trager tightened his grip on her hand. Victoria tried desperately to think of something else, anything but what was about to happen. She thought of her friends. Kate with her golden hair. Kate hugging her at Blackwell after a screaming match with her parents left her crying on her dorm room floor. Rachel and the way she flipped her hair that drove Victoria crazy, Chloe and her smile, Chloe and the way she- Trager’s voice interrupted her.  
  
“Well, money becomes a matter of faith. And that's what I'm here for. To make you believe.” Chloe and Kate, Max holding her-  
  
Victoria screamed as the shears bit into her finger, her legs flailing wildly. Tears ran down her face as she howled in unspeakable pain. It was like nothing she’d ever felt, she didn’t even know that it was possible to feel that much pain. Finally, her brain kicked in and blocked the pain out, leaving a bizarre feeling of emptiness. Victoria stopped screaming, her body convulsing in sobs as her vison began to darken.  
  
A shard slap across her cheek brought her back to reality. “You paying attention? Don't pass out on me, there's still a lot for you to absorb.” Victoria barely had time to comprehend what he had said when he grabbed her left hand.  
  
The shears closed around her ring finger and she screamed again, even louder than before.  
  
“GOD NOOOO! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!” she managed to scream between screams and sobs. The second finger came off quicker than the first but Victoria hardly noticed. Trager leaned over her when he was done, ignoring her sobs.  
  
“There. Better now, right? Do you understand what we achieved here? We made the consumer into the means of production. This thing is going to sell itself!” Victoria didn’t even care what he said, hardly registered that he was speaking. “Now if you’ll excuse me I need to prepare for our next surgery. I can’t have you spreading Father Martin’s bullshit so we’re gonna have to do something with that tongue.” Trager left, shears still in hand, whistling tunelessly.  
  
Victoria struggled against the cuffs, pulling with all her might till she finally managed to pull her blood-soaked hands free. She sat up and fell against the sink, vomiting on the floor. Body still shaking in shock. With trembling hands, Victoria retrieved her camera and put it inside her remarkably untouched bag. Fumbling, she managed to turn on the sink, letting the water wash over her hands. Slowly she held up her shaking hands in front of her, blood oozed from the stumps of her index and ring finger. She screamed again, more out of shock and anger than pain. Slowly, Victoria stood, she had to get out of here before Trager came back. She ran out of the room, just as she heard the snipping of Trager’s shears.  
  
“Oh, come on friend we’re not done yet!” he yelled. Vic ran, hiding under gurneys as Trager searched for her. He finally left the room where she was hiding and Vic ran the opposite way. She had only made it a few feet when she rounded a corner and bumped into Chloe.  
  
“Vic, thank God.” Chloe said as she saw her friend.  
  
“We need to get out of here, he’s coming!” Vic whispered in a panic.  
  
“Who?” Kate asked. Beside her, Max gasped and two pairs of eyes followed Max’s gaze till they saw Vic’s hands.  
  
“Jesus Vic.” Chloe said, a lump forming in her throat.  
  
“Where’d you go? We have a deal to close!” A voice down the hall hollered.  
  
They all turned to run as Trager rounded the corner. “There!” Kate shouted, together, they ran into the elevator she’d pointed too, Max furiously jabbing at the up button. As the cage began to rise, Trager ran into room and threw open the cage doors.  
“Come on don’t walk out on me now!” he yelled, swinging the shears. The four women backed against the wall as far away from him as they could get. As the cage began to pass the first floor, Trager tried to jump down, but couldn’t, he let out an ungodly scream as the elevator crushed him, stopping hallway between the two floors. Max and Chloe opened the second-floor doors while Kate held onto Victoria who was staring numbly at the wall. They climbed out, Chloe clutching her ribs as she did. They made their way back to the room where Kate had checked Chloe’s side, as far away from Gluskin’s corpse as possible.  
  
“Victoria, sweetie?” Kate asked tenderly, “I need to ask you some questions okay?” Victoria said nothing, just stared straight ahead. Chloe and Max sat on either side of her, Max with her arm around Victoria’s shoulder and Chloe with her arm around Victoria’s waist. Victoria slumped down as they held her. “Victoria, please. I know it hurts honey but I need you to talk to me.” Victoria sniffled and nodded, Kate’s voice so soft and caring she felt like she was going to break down right there. “Okay, you’re doing so good honey. Have you washed yet?” Victoria nodded. “Okay that’s very good.” Kate said, opening the first aid kit they found earlier. She set aside some ice-packs and pulled out a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a small bottle of water she had filled in a sink in the same room where the first aid kit was. Victoria flinched at the sight of the bottle. “No no no don’t worry honey this won’t sting its hydrogen peroxide okay? It’s not alcohol. Now, please hold out your hands okay?”  
  
Victoria did and Kate got her first chance to examine her wounds. Thankfully, the shears were sharp, leaving a clean cut. Kate’s heart clenched in sorrow as she poured the peroxide over her friends’ wounds. Chloe watched, whispering sweet nothings into Victoria’s ear, trying desperately to provide any comfort she could. Max buried her face in Victoria’s shoulder, tears streaming down her face. She wished she had her powers back, if she had them then Victoria wouldn’t have had to sacrifice herself like this, she could go change history again. Victoria gasped and Max hugged her as tight as she could. Kate poured the water over Victoria’s hands and softly dried them off. She then took some gauze and medical tape and wrapped Victoria’s hands. When she was done, Victoria practically flung herself into her arms.  
  
“We’re here for you Victoria.” Max said quietly, Victoria nodded, trying to focus. They still needed to get out, she couldn’t break down now. Vic took a shaky breath as Kate reached for the ice-packs.  
  
“I want you to use these.” she said, handing two to Victoria, “Same for you Chloe.”  
  
“Wha-what happened to you?” Victoria asked, eyes wide with concern. All three of them told her about Eddie Gluskin, one taking over the story when another faltered off. Vic looked at Max when she said she had stabbed him, her injured hand wrapping around Max’s. The two stared at each other for a moment, a look of understanding passing between them.  
  
Kate picked up the conversation, “I checked Chloe’s ribs after that, they’re at least cracked, maybe broken.” Vic turned to Chloe who was sliding an ice pack up her shirt. Chloe looked at her, giving her a sad smile.  
  
“How ya doing Vic?” she asked.  
  
Vic paused for a minute, she should be feeling something, right? Shock? Pain? Something instead of this…this numbness. She should tell someone. But that would be showing too much. “Guess I gotta learn how to finger girls with my left hand.” she said. Chloe guffawed, Kate and Max did too. All of them knew what Vic was doing, but they let it go, she needed to feel strong right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY!  
> I cried writing this chapter, it was so hard to write that scene I am so sorry.  
> Next chapter will be up as soon as possible
> 
> pls dont hate me


	8. Apocalypse State of Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max, Kate, Chloe, and Vic find more information about Murkoff and find a way to get information outside the asylum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A softer, less traumatic password after the last angst-fest.  
> I'm almost done, should only be a couple chapters left.  
> EDIT: Added something to the end, see End Notes for spoilers  
> Title is from Aviators song "Apocalypse State of Mind"

They stayed there till Vic stood up, announcing that they needed to get moving. Max squeezed her hand as they walked out of the room, they’d all get the help they needed once they got out. They made their way downstairs, Kate leading the way. They eventually came across another office, its computer still intact and even more shocking, still had internet.  
  
“Maybe we can get some help?” Max asked, trying to bring any hope she could to the despondent Victoria.  
  
“Worth a shot Captain Max.” Chloe said with a smile.  
  
“What is it?” Kate asked Chloe who was looking, brow furrowed, at a file on the desk.  
  
“I’ve heard this name before, when I worked here, Billy this, Billy that.” Chloe reached down and opened the file marked ‘BILLY HOPE’. Chloe read through the file, rage building as she continued. “Those fucking pricks!”  
  
“What is it?” Kate asked.  
  
“The Walrider needs like, a host body to control it. The one they’re using is a guy named Billy Hope. He wasn’t a patient, he just volunteered. This says that Murkoff promised to pay his mother’s cancer treatment…. they didn’t, she died four months ago.”  
  
Before they had time to absorb that, they heard Max sob from the corner. They all turned to her, concern in their eyes. Max held a file in her hand.  
  
Chloe put a gentle hand on Max’s shoulder, “Max? What is it?” Without a word, Max handed Chloe a file marked ‘CHLOE PRICE’. Chloe’s mouth dropped open in shock, it made sense that there was a file on her, she was ‘admitted’ after all. But it was something else to hold it. Mouth dry, she opened it. “Fuck I can’t do this someone please read it.”  
  
Kate took it from her and began to read. “The beginning is why they…committed you, your e-mail and all that.” Kate cleared her throat, “Most of it is updates on the- tests they were running. There’s a note at the end about your parents.” she said slowly.  
  
Chloe’s heart broke, “What does it say?”  
  
Kate grinned sadly, this says that the man they sent to tell your parents was threatened with hot grease by your mom and was chased off your property by your dad wielding a shotgun.”  
  
Chloe had to laugh at that, “Yeah that sounds like them.”  
  
“They’re trying to get you out.” Kate said. “This entry from last week says that they’ve blocked your parents number and all mail from them.” Chloe nodded, she knew they’d never give up on her.  
  
“Fucking shit.” Vic sighed, tears in her eyes, from the computer. She knew Chloe’s parents well, she spent more time at their house than she did at her own during her days at Blackwell. She’d help Joyce cook and David taught her woodworking, he’d said she needed a good hobby. They didn’t deserve to have their daughter ripped away from them. “This shit has to end. Kate give me my bag, Chloe, get all the files you can together, we’re going to send this shit out while we can. The world has to know what’s happened here. We can’t let Murkoff get away with this!”  
  
Chloe began working, all the files on this computer matched the drive she took earlier. As she compiled them all, making sure hers and Max’s files were included, Vic was pulling out her camera.  
  
“Kate?” Vic asked, her voice suddenly very small. “Could you please make sure I have everything from the asylum recorded?”  
  
“Of course.” Kate said, taking the camera that Vic practically shoved into her hands. Vic had been ready to check herself till she realized she had no index finger to hit play with. Kate began flipping through the videos, until she saw a thumbnail that made her gasp. Hitting play, keeping the sound muted, she began to tear up. “Tori?” she asked.  
  
Max was taking the time to replace Vic’s bandages, “Yeah?” Vic asked.  
  
“That…man- he uh, he took a video of you when he…” Vic sighed, she had forgotten that Trager had set up her camera across from her during her amputation. “Keep that one in there.”  
  
“Victoria.” Max said, oh so gently, holding the other woman’s’ face in impossibly gentle hands, her thumb brushing away a stray tear. “You don’t have to do that.”  
  
Victoria looked into Max’s eyes, trying her best not to look at Kate or Chloe cause dear God she could not handle so much affection from this many people right now.  
  
“Yes I do Max.” she said. “People need to know what happened here, they need to know the truth.”  
  
Max nodded slowly and marveled how different Victoria was from the girl she knew at Blackwell, it was like the real Vic, the one she had seen on rare occasions had taken control and grown into this woman.  
  
“All the files are ready.” Chloe announced from the computer.  
  
“Kate, give Chloe the memory card.” Kate did and Chloe took it hesitantly. As she uploaded the videos she pretended not to see the thumbnail of Victoria strapped to a chair, maniac with bone shears hovering behind her.  
  
“All right Vic, how did you want to send this out?”  
  
Vic rattled off her e-mail and password and after Chloe attached the files she scrolled through Vic’s contacts, sending it to every paper Vic had ever wrote for as well as the FBI and the local police department. “Anything else?”  
  
It was Max who spoke up, “I wish I could’ve seen my parents again. I’ve spent so much time thinking they were gone, but to know that they’re okay-” she broke off as the three other women held her.  
  
“I’ve got an idea.” Chloe said.  
  
A few minutes later, Vic’s camera was set to record and Chloe had posted all the Murkoff files, including hers and Max’s on Vic’s website. Vic sat in the chair, camera set across from, her and Max, Chloe and Kate behind her. Vic hit play and began to record.  
  
“This is Victoria Chase, freelance journalist. A few days ago, I received an e-mail from an IT worker at a secret facility under Mount Massive Asylum in Colorado. I arrived over eight hours ago to find a scene straight out of Hell. The Murkoff Corporation is using a device they call the Morphogenic Engine to induce psychosomatic states in the patients so they could use them to control nano-swarms. The effects of the engine were not limited to the patients however, as time passed, some doctors, patients who hadn’t been exposed to the engine, and the Asylum staff began to exhibit signs of the Engines influence.” Vic paused, looking at her friends. “These women with me are some of the few to remain unaffected.” Vic nodded at Chloe.  
  
“I’m Chloe Price-Madsen. I was the IT worker who sent Vic- Miss Chase the e-mail. During my time working here I saw patients dragged in against their will, often beaten, and forced into glass spheres where they were hooked up to various tubes and IV’s. Many patients died there their bodies carted off somewhere I never saw, the ones who survived were extremely violent and tried to kill anyone around them. Once I sent the e-mail, I was confronted by Jeremy Blair, the head of Murkoff. He committed me against my will and had me tested for the Engine.” Chloe swallowed the thick lump that had gathered in her throat, “The doctors shaved my head, put electrodes on it and forced me to watch this projection at random intervals. The only way to describe it is an ear-splitting migraine that would render me sweating and panting after only a few seconds of exposure.” Everyone stared at Chloe, this was the most they had heard her talk about her time at the Asylum. “The day the doctor told me that they were going to ‘break my mind’ I attempted to escape. I didn’t get far before the guards tazed me and I fell unconscious. When I woke up I was being wheeled to a padded cell where the doctor told me they were going to keep me in till I starved to death. On the way, there was a loud shaking, like an earthquake and all the cells opened. I was knocked out and when I woke up there were bodies everywhere.” Chloe paused, “Uh, Mom, Dad. I saw the file that says you guys are still trying to get me out.” she wiped at her eyes, “I just wanted to say that if we don’t make it out of here, I love you both, so fucking much.”  
  
Vic took over smoothly, allowing Chloe to step back into Max and Kate’s arms.  
  
“While trying to escape the asylum I found Miss Price and we eventually found Miss Marsh and Miss Caulfield. Miss Caulfield is more familiar than anyone with Murkoff’s ruthlessness.” They had decided before they started recording that Vic and Kate would talk for Max, she didn’t want to talk about all that had been done to her so Chloe took her out of earshot and held onto her, afraid to let her go. Vic held up Max’s file, “Miss Caulfield suffered a massive stroke ten years ago and had been in and out of various institutions since then. Two years ago, Murkoff discovered her in a hospital and wanting her for their experiments, faked her death and brought her here. Miss Caulfield was told her parents were killed in a car crash while her parents were given a fake body.”  
  
Kate then spoke, “I’m Kate Marsh, I was an assistant to the priest here as well as an RN. I saw firsthand the effects that the Engine had on patients, people who seemed to be fine, even rehabilitating would disappear for weeks and come back severely unbalanced and in straight jackets. One of the people I saw regularly. despite the administrations wishes, was Miss Caulfield. She was often in medically induced states of delirium and she had no chart or record that I ever saw till now.” Kate took a breath, now for the crazy part. “I found her under a bed after the patients escaped and we began looking for a way out. In our search, we found a recording of an interview with a German scientist named Rudolf Wernicke who worked for the Nazi’s in World War II. Wernicke was the designer of the Engine but said that no computer on Earth could power it, so they used a human brain. The files attached to this video not only say that the person who is currently powering the Engine is failing, they also say that Murkoff was planning to use Max as the next power source for it.”  
  
Max and Chloe returned, and Max turned to the camera while Kate whispered into a grinning Chloe’s ear.  
  
Vic held onto Max’s hand as she looked into the camera, “Hey mom and dad.” she said with a sad smile. “I uh- I don’t know what to say. I hope that I make it out so we- so we can be a family again.” Tears were streaming freely down Max’s cheeks as Victoria held her hand. “But if- if I don’t make it out of here, please know that I love you both so so so much.” she turned away towards Kate and Chloe.  
  
Vic sighed and brushed her hair aside with a hand, realizing halfway through the motion that the camera saw her bandaged hand. She frowned and held up her hands, “Courtesy of one of the patients here.” she said simply. “The files are all that should be needed to burn Murkoff to the ground in case we don’t make it. We’ve sent them to every place we could think of and they’re also on my website.” She paused, should she say anything to her parents? Would they even care? “Mom and dad, if I die, I guess goodbye.” Now for the people who really cared about her. “Dana, my gifts for Juliet and Courtney’s bridal shower are on my kitchen counter and please water my plants. Taylor, don’t forget about that thing we talked about, you should go for it.” she stopped, this was a lot harder than she thought. ““Nathan.” she said her voice breaking, “Thank you for being my best friend. Juliet, Courtney. I’m sorry if I’m not there to be your Maid of Honor.” she swallowed hard, “Anyone have anything else to say?”  
  
“Yes.” Kate said, striding towards the camera, “Lynn, Ally, I love you both so much. You’re the best sisters anyone could ever ask for. I’m gonna try my hardest to make it to Lynn’s graduation. Dad, thank you for everything, I love you. And mom, well your plan didn’t work, I’m still a major lesbian.” with that Chloe dipped her gracefully and they kissed, with lots of tongue. The kiss was brief, but damn did Chloe want more, she thought, hoping the camera wouldn’t pick up her blush.  
  
Vic turned to the camera with a smile. “We’re going to try to make it out, but if we don’t, make sure Murkoff doesn’t get away with this.” With that, she reached over and stopped the recording. “Nice kiss you two.” she said with a grin to the blushing Chloe and Kate.  
  
Kate smiled, “I’m glad I got to be myself, even if it’s just for that moment.”  
  
“We’re gonna get out of here, all of us.” Max told her, “We’ve come too far not to make it.”  
  
“Well let’s get going.” Chloe said.  
  
Vic uploaded their possible last will and testament, and posted it to her Twitter and her website.  
  
“Let’s go.” she said, standing up. She wasn’t sure if she believed Max, but hopefully they’d all get out, and well, if one didn’t; she’d be happy to be that person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still conflicted about how I'm going to end this thing...  
> Don't worry, no major deaths at the end.  
> Added Victoria saying goodbye to Nathan in her video, he's good in this universe, he got a restraining order against his dad.  
> Also, the thing Vic was telling Juliet about was proposing to Dana.  
> Comment/ Kudo and follow me on tumblr @theduchessunseen if you have any questions about this fic.


	9. What You Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max, Chloe, Kate and Victoria are almost out of the asylum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ninth chapter was getting a bit long so I had to split it in two, enjoy!
> 
> TW for description of a man burning to death near the beginning of the chapter.

The four walked through the ruined halls of Mount Massive, just one elevator ride away from the entrance.  
  
“OH MOTHERFUCKER!” Chloe yelled as she got to the elevator.  
  
“What is it?” Kate asked, dread filling her.  
  
Chloe pointed emphatically at the elevator cage, it was wrapped with a heavy chain, impossible for them to break.  
  
“There has to be another way down.” Kate said determinedly. The four women looked for another way down to no avail. The staircase to the left was completely gone, and all but one hallway was blocked with heavy furniture.  
  
“Come! Come my disciple!” a voice called in the distance. The group turned to see ‘Father’ Martin. standing at the end of the hallway. “I have the path to salvation, the key to the kingdom, come to the church, receive the key!” he shouted before leaving.  
  
The four stared at each other. “You think he has the key?” Max asked.  
  
Chloe shook her head, “How can we know for sure, he could be trying to trap us?”  
  
“What other option do we have?” Kate asked. Chloe sighed, knowing she was right.  
  
“Okay, let’s go.”  
  
They made their way to the chapel, the halls even bloodier than they were when Kate had left them hours ago. Kate was in front, bravely leading the way through the blood-streaked halls. They got to the chapel and stopped dead in their tracks. The dick twins were right outside, holding candles like perverse altar boys.  
  
“Go in.” one of them said.  
  
“The Father’s waiting for you.” the other said as they opened the doors. The four women walked past them as quickly as possible and went into the dark chapel and stopped in shock. On the floor in front of the altar a group of Variants surrounded a cross with Father Martin tied to it.  
  
“God in heaven.” Kate murmured softly. Directly in front of him was a small podium, a key lying atop it.  
  
“My child.” Father Martin said to Vic, “You have come. You will watch and record my death, my resurrection. And together we will be free.” Victoria, utterly terrified took out her camera, hands shaking.  
  
“Jesus, we need to get out of here.” Max said.  
  
“Not yet.” Chloe said grimly, gesturing over her shoulder. They turned to see the dick twins blocking the way.  
  
Father Martin spoke again, “You and your three disciples alone shall escape to tell them. This is your penultimate act of witness. You are no longer in any danger. I've fixed the elevator. It will take you to freedom. We will all of us be free.” The Variants around him began to pour gasoline on and around him. “The promise of the prophets was always freedom from death. And here it is.” A Variant touched a candle to the bottom of the cross, instantly igniting it. Father Martin began to scream as the flame caught his feet and legs. As the flames engulfed his body, his screams got louder and louder. Finally, the screams stopped and the twins stood aside. Chloe grabbed the key and the four women ran out of the chapel as the flames spread; not stopping till they got to the elevator. All four of them falling into each other’s arms.  
  
“We’re okay.” Chloe kept repeating. She took the key and unlocked the elevator cage. They all piled in, Max jamming the button for the first floor furiously. They all sighed in relief as the cage began to move, it approached the bottom floor, their nightmare was finally over, they could see the sun beginning to rise.  
  
The cage kept moving down.  
  
“What the fuck!?” Vic screamed shrilly as the cage sank past their freedom.  
  
Beside her, Chloe was shaking in fear. “Fuck, Jesusfucknoplease.” she said repeatedly as she jammed the ‘stop’ button in the elevator, finally punching it in anger. The four stared ahead as the basement of the asylum faded from view and the walls turned to solid rock.  
  
“Chloe?” Max asked, her voice very small, “Where are we going?”  
  
Chloe swallowed, “It’s taking us to the lab.” The four women stood in shocked silence, helpless as the elevator took them deep into the mountain. It felt like they were going down for miles, the granite in front of them seemed never-ending. Kate half-expected the doors to open onto the gates of Hell themselves. When the elevator finally stopped, Kate saw she was right. Several bodies lay right outside, their limbs torn from their bodies; blood splattered across the rock-hewn floor like paint.  
  
“The elevator won’t go up.” Max exclaimed with a panicked growl as she tried pushing every button she could.  
  
Chloe swallowed, she had to do this. Max needed her, she’d been through so much already. Chloe just got her back, she wouldn’t lose her again. Her first-mate, her partner in crime. Max who kissed her in front of a fountain on a cool summer day. Max who would stay up all night on skype after she moved when Chloe was crying over William. Max who she never stopped loving. Kate needed her, she’d seen enough horrors. Kate deserved better, to be free to love who she wanted to, to know the feeling of another woman’s lips on her own when she woke up. Kate who kissed her in the rain. Kate who did Chloe’s makeup and hair before their senior prom. Vic needed her, she sacrificed herself for them, she’d done enough. Vic who, blushing the entire time, told her she’d like her to be her model for a school project. Vic who got her through Max’s stroke, the two of them had shared so much; she couldn’t let Vic give any more of herself. It had to be her, Chloe Elizabeth Price would be the one to save them all. That’s what you did for the people you love.  
  
“There’s got to be a way out.” she said. “They brought some hella big equipment in, they’d need someplace big to bring it in through.”  
  
The other three nodded as Chloe led the way past the bodies of the SWAT officers that she and Vic had seen the Walrider kill.  
  
Max watched Chloe, her heart swelling with pride. She always knew Chloe was brave, so brave. She thought about Chloe, Kate and Vic. She had tried for millennia to create a world where they were safe, it had to be this one. She’d make sure they got out, Max once touched the very fabric of the universe, she could save them all again. Her brave Chloe, her partner in crime, her first love who she literally changed the universe for. Chloe who once told Max she’d rather die than Arcadia Bay. Chloe whose face was drawn on every surface in a padded cell in another building. Kate. Sweet, sweet Kate who she saved one rainy day; and who saved her here with her gentle kindness. Kate who covered her mouth when she laughed. Kate whose smile could make flowers bloom. Victoria, who was so much more selfless than Max ever realized at Blackwell. Victoria who was more concerned that Chloe had gotten hurt than with herself after she’d had her fingers cut off. Victoria who also understood what it was like to kill a man and feel no regrets. Max Caulfield had to save them. That’s what you did for the people you love.  
  
Victoria gritted her teeth in pain, the throbbing pain of her missing fingers constant. Closing her eyes tight, she tried to will away the pain. She had to make sure everyone got out, what kind of friend would she be if she didn’t? Chloe, she had to keep Chloe safe. The only friend she had who she shared her deepest self with. Chloe who once carried her to the dorms after a nervous breakdown. Chloe who told off Vic’s parents when they told her what a disappointment she was. Chloe who she’d crushed on for years. Max had to get out, the poor woman had suffered so much, lost ten years of her life being stuck in places like this. Been experimented on and subjected to horrors so extreme they turned Victoria’s stomach. Max who held her tight and safe when she was in shock. Max deserved a normal life. Kate, Katie. Kate was the best person that Victoria knew. Kate who sat through her tirades on anime, Kate who would wake Victoria at school with the sweetest violin music. Kate who drew a comic of a caterpillar becoming the most beautiful butterfly Victoria had ever seen once she found out Victoria was trans. Victoria Maribeth Chase had to save them. That’s what you did for the people you love.  
  
Kate followed behind everyone, not wanting to let any of the others out of her sight. She had to make sure they all stayed safe. She loved them all so dearly. Chloe who was her first friend at Blackwell. Chloe who helped her hang fliers for her abstinence club. Chloe who kissed her in the rain and took her to prom wearing a very dapper suit. Chloe who taught her and her sisters self-defense when they visited Blackwell. Max who she’d heard stories of for years but never thought she’d be blessed enough to meet. Max who was the type of girl a girl like Kate could fall in love with. Max who Kate had to make sure saw her parents again, Max who smiled when she sang to her. Victoria, Tori who felt so, so fragile in Kate’s arms after she cleaned her wounds. Tori who came to her room at three in the morning when she had a panic attack over an e-mail from her mother. Tori who played piano beautifully alongside her violin and Chloe’s voice at an amateur night in a bar. Kate Beverly Marsh had to save them all. That’s what you did for the people you love.  
  
They made their way through the lab, desperately searching for a way out. Checking every office as they went along, Chloe led towards the Engine, just past that there was a room she remembered seeing, with large rolling doors like a loading dock, they could get out there.  
  
“What was that?” Vic asked, pointing down a dark hallway.  
  
“What?” Kate asked, peering down the hallway. In the glare of a red light, the only remnant of an alarm long since silenced, an amorphous shape hovered in the air. It stayed still, taking the vague form of a man.  
  
The Walrider had come.  
  
“Run.” Max said urgently, her voice barley above a whisper.  
  
The four turned to flee and the Walrider followed. Chloe led them through offices, air vents and around tables trying to escape it. They ran for what felt like hours, no one looking behind them, the sound of the Walrider, the gasp of a dying man, in their ears.  
  
The sound fell away finally, just as Kate stumbled and fell.  
  
“Jesus, Kate are you okay?” Chloe asked as Max and Vic helped her to her feet.  
  
Kate nodded, fully aware of Vic’s odd grip on her arm. “Yes, I’m just glad it left.”  
  
Max nodded, “Let’s get out of here.” she said, heading towards a large double door.  
  
The door slammed open, knocking Max to the ground. The Hulk stood there, his lipless grin scowling down at the women. They screamed and tried to run past him. He viciously shoved Kate to the ground, Vic tried to kick him but before she could he lifted a leg, kicking her square in the chest her breath left her body in an instant as she fell to the ground wheezing. He grabbed Chloe by the neck, lifting her up in the air. With his free hand, he grabbed Chloe by the waist and began to squeeze.  
  
‘He’s trying to rip me in half.’ Chloe thought as her vision faded. There was a flash and then Chloe fell to the ground, sucking in precious air. Still dizzy from oxygen loss she saw the Walrider slam into the Hulk. The giant swiped at the swarm, to no avail as it lifted him up and viciously threw him against the wall. His body fell to the ground with enough force to make the ground shake. The Walrider vanished, leaving the four women alone with a corpse. Victoria and Chloe were still coughing, trying to get as much air into their lungs as they could, when Max and Kate scrambled over to them.  
  
“Thank God!” Kate said, tears in her eyes.  
  
“Are you two okay?” Max asked. On her hands and knees, Chloe gave a shaky thumbs up and Vic, still lying on the ground, nodded. Max helped Vic while Kate checked Chloe’s ribs, offering her a little water from the first-aid-kit she had grabbed. After checking everyone for injuries, Kate stood, they had to press on.  
  
“Is that his wallet?” Chloe asked, her voice still raspy, pointing at something sticking out of the Hulk’s pants pocket. Max bent down to pick it up.  
  
“His name was Chris Walker.” Max said as she read the driver’s license, “He, he was a security guard here.”  
  
Kate sank next to the body, putting a gentle hand on the dead man’s shoulder. “Oh Chris.” she said quietly.  
  
“Katie?” Chloe asked, “You knew him?”  
  
Kate nodded, “Yeah he uh, he asked me out once.” The other three stared at her in shock as she went on. “I uh told him I was gay and he- he bought me a rainbow bouquet during Pride month.” Kate began to cry as the others huddled around her. “He was a good man.” Kate sobbed, “He deserved better.”  
  
“He’ll get justice.” Vic said, “They all will, but we need to get out of here.”  
  
Kate nodded, solemnly closing the eyes of Chris Walker before standing up.  
  
They had no time to mourn the dead.  
  
The Walrider was still out there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Ten should be up VERY soon!


	10. The Widening Gyre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four women make a startling discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene really needed it's own chapter, next chapter is in the middle of being written!

The next room they came to was an office, the name Jeremy Blair on the door.  
  
“Fucker.” Chloe said as she burst in, hoping to see Blair’s lifeless body. The office was empty, like it had been abandoned in a hurry. “This fucker is the head of Murkoff.” Chloe told them all, her eyes blazing in fury.  
  
Max nodded “Chloe get his personal files and put them in Vic’s bag. Everyone else, look for anything incriminating.”  
  
The four began to search in silence until Kate’s voice broke the silence. “Looks like he was watching a security video.” she said, “He’s arguing with some other guy that looks like him.”  
  
Kate unmuted the video. “This whole thing is fucking ridiculous.” a voice said.  
  
“That’s Blair.” Chloe sneered.  
  
Max walked over to the screen and her blood froze. No way. No.  
  
No.  
  
NO.  
  
“I gave you my share of inheritance to fund your little project the least you could do is indulge me!” the other man shouted.  
  
Max began to hyperventilate, how? How did-?  
  
Blair spoke again, “I don’t see what the big deal is, it’s not like you can show anything, you’re a felon, remember?”  
  
“I can as an anonymous artist idiot.” Mark Jefferson said. “It doesn’t have to have my name on it.”  
  
“Holy fuck I recognize that prick!” Vic said, “It’s Mark Jefferson!” Max wanted to cry, how was he here?  
  
“Who?” Chloe asked, her brow furrowing.  
  
“He was some up and coming photographer.” Vic explained, “Rumor was Blackwell was actually eyeing him as a prospective teacher back in the day, then the police get an anonymous tip and he’s found in his car with a drugged college girl. Fucker said it was so he could ‘capture vulnerability’ or some shit for his pictures. He was disgraced, went to prison and fell off the face of the earth.”  
  
“Till now.” Chloe said, her arms crossed, mentally adding this worthless piece of trash’s name to her running list of: ‘Guys I Need Throw Through a Window’. “I mean who the - fuck Max are you okay?”  
  
Kate and Vic looked up from the screen to see Max standing in front of them, her entire body pale and rigid, her breath coming in rapid bursts. Kate was by her side in an instant.  
  
“Shh, hey Max, hey it’s okay, it’s me Kate.”  
  
Max couldn’t hear her, but she could hear his voice, reaching out like some sort of monster in the night.  
  
“You really thought you could stop me Max?” Mark Jefferson’s voice said in Max’s mind. “Calling the cops on that first model of mine was smart, but it wasn’t enough, was it?” There was a camera flash and she was back in her cell, her straightjacket on. Another flash. “Your friends, they’re going to join you. I’m taking you back to the Dark Room. I’ll keep you under. Those drugs they gave you, I have much more.” Flash. She felt Jefferson brush a finger against her cheek. She thrashed out, her arms useless, strapped by her side. She felt a tear slide down her cheek, flash. “Vulnerability.” Jefferson whispered, snapping a picture. “I wonder what would happen if I killed all your friends in front of you, that would make a nice picture don’t you think?” Flash. Flash. Flash. Max began to cry.  
  
The cell, Jefferson dissolved till there was nothing around Max but endless night. She  
  
floated      in the darkness her sobs  
  
 echoing  
  
   around 

  her

 

“MAX!”

From the void a voice cried out, soft and warm and perfect.

      Chloe.

Max focused on Chloe’s voice, hearing Victoria too. She moved towards their voices, then, an angel cried out.  
  
“And at last I see the light, And it’s like the fog has lifted. And at last I see the light, and it’s like the sky is new. And it’s warm and real and bright, and the world has somehow shifted. All at once, everything looks different, now that I see you.”  
Max opened her eyes as Kate finished singing. Three concerned, tear-filled, pairs of eyes staring at her.  
  
She threw herself into their arms and began to sob.  
“You’re all safe!” she cried, “He said he was going to kill you all!” The three looked at each other, hugging Max tighter. “I can’t lose any of you, I love you all too much! I won’t let him hurt you again!”  
  
“We love you too Max.” Chloe said, hugging Max tight. Neither of the other women knew what Max meant by ‘again’, or who ‘he’ was. It had to Blair since he ran Murkoff, it couldn’t be that Jeffershit guy, only Vic knew who he was and that was because he’d been arrested years before any of them knew each other. Victoria was still shocked by Max saying she loved her, it sent an unexpected feeling of warmth through her body. She expected her to love Chloe and Kate, but her too? Victoria hugged the woman tighter.  
  
“We’re almost outta here honey.” she heard herself say.  
  
Max nodded, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “We have to stop this.” she said as the others helped her to her feet. “The Engine, shutting it down is the only way to stop the Walrider, to free whoever is trapped inside it.”  
  
None of the other women loved Max more than she did in that moment. She had suffered so much but still her first thought was to help others.  
  
“I agree.” Kate said, “We\re the only ones who can stop this.”  
  
Chloe nodded, “I can figure out a way to shut it down once we get to the chamber.”  
  
They all turned to look at Victoria, “You’re right, this is the right thing to do.”  
  
They continued through the hallways with no sign of the Walrider until they came to a set of double doors and stepped into a large cavern, dominated by an absolutely giant steel dodecahedron, each side housing a thick, circular piece of glass that cast the cavern in an eerie green glow and held up by thick steel cylinders.  
  
“Ladies,” Chloe said with a grimace, “The Morphogenic Engine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	11. Knockin' On Heaven's Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max, Chloe, Kate and Victoria face the Walrider at the Morphogenic Engine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here!!  
> Finally!  
> This chapter has the biggest departure, lore wise, from the Outlast game, but this was all referenced in Chapter Six.  
> Also I edited Chapter Eight so that it is Juliet and Courtney getting married and Taylor who talked to Vic about 'something.'

No sooner did the words leave Chloe’s mouth than there was a great rumble from the engine, shaking the entire cavern.  
  
“And I heard as it were the noise of thunder.” Kate muttered.  
  
“What was that?” Max asked Kate.  
  
“Johnny Cash.” Chloe replied before Kate could answer.  
  
Kate rolled her eyes. “It’s also a line in Revelation, Chloe.”  
  
“Well Miss Marsh.” Chloe responded playfully, “It’s also the beginning of Johnny Cash’s ‘The Man Comes Around’.”  
  
“All right you two.” Vic said, “Chloe the way out is there?” she asked pointing to the large double doors at the opposite end of the cavern.  
  
Chloe nodded, “Yeah, after that we should finally be out of here.”  
  
They stepped into the cavern, making their way closer to the Morphogenic Engine.  
  
“What about Billy?” Max asked.  
  
“What about him?” Victoria asked.  
  
Max pointed to one of the spheres surrounding the Engine, the only one that still looked operable. The body of a man was suspended inside, filled with tubes leading into the Engine. The four women could see his chest slowly rising and falling. His open eyes looked like he had just woken from a nightmare.  
  
Max stood there, tears in her eyes. She knew what it was to be trapped in your own mind.  
  
Chloe and Victoria glanced at each other, they knew the only way Billy Hope would be at peace.  
  
“The only way to stop the Walrider is to shut off his life support.” Chloe sighed, hating the look on Max’s face.  
  
“What? No!” Max gasped, “Chloe, there has to be another way!”  
  
Chloe moved towards the teary-eyed Max but it was Victoria who got there first.  
  
The taller girl pulled Max into a soft embrace. “Max honey, this is the only thing we can do. You’ve seen what happens to the people who come out of this thing.”  
  
Max cried, she so desperately wanted to save him, save everyone.  
  
If she only had her powers back, but she knew Chloe was right. There was only one way to help him.  
  
“Okay.” she said with a shaky voice.  
  
Chloe went over to the manual by the control panel, studying the life support shutdown. “Okay.” she said after a few minutes. “We’ll need to shut down the Life Support Fluid Reservoir to the right first.” Chloe said. “Then we’ll go through the door on the left to cut off the electric supply from the Sublab Generator. A failsafe will activate and we’ll push this button here, and that should do it.”  
  
The other three nodded.  
  
“Okay. Let’s go.” Chloe said.  
  
The four began walking towards the life support when the Walrider burst in, it headed straight for them, knocking them down.  
  
“Run!” Kate screamed.  
  
Max ran through the doors first, she had almost made it to the stairs leading to the life support valve when she felt herself being thrown against a wall.  
  
“Split up!” Chloe yelled, “He’ll have to split between both of us.”  
  
Vic and Kate turned around and ran across the cavern to the other room. Chloe helped Max up, the two running up the stars as fast as they could.  
  
“Why. Are. There. So. Many. Stairs?” Max wheezed as they went up the fourth flight.  
  
“Only two more Maxaroni.” Chloe panted. They made their way up to the catwalk just as the Walrider appeared at the end of it. It charged, knocking Chloe off the narrow catwalk. Max dove and caught Chloe’s wrist.  
  
“Chloe, hold on!” Max screamed, she tried to pull Chloe up but years of little to no exercise left her weak.  
  
Fortunately, Chloe was strong. With a scream of effort, Chloe swung herself up, grabbing onto the catwalk with her opposite hand, adrenalin coursing through her body, Chloe pulled herself up. Max flung herself into Chloe’s arms.  
  
“You hella saved my life.” Chloe breathed heavily, her forehead leaning against Max’s.  
  
Max just held Chloe, not wanting to let her go. “Come on baby,” Chloe panted as she stood, “we’re almost there.”  
  
They made it to the top, Max reached the valve first. As she struggled to turn the massive wheel Chloe stepped behind her, her hands joining Max’s. Together, the two shut off the reservoir. Alarms immediately began to blare, and the lights flashed red.  
  
“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Max said, running towards the stairs.  
  
#  
  
Kate was on her way up the stairs, Victoria close behind her. The Walrider burst in, slamming Victoria roughly against the wall.  
  
“I’m okay, run!” she shouted to Kate. Kate began taking the steps two at a time, hearing Victoria’s feet start to hit the steps behind her. They reached the top of the stairs, both of them practically throwing themselves onto the wheel that controlled the electric supply. With grunts of effort, they managed to shut it off. They turned to flee when the Walrider appeared, slamming into Kate, sending her tumbling off the catwalk.  
  
“KATIE!” Victoria screeched as she saw Kate disappear over the edge.  
  
Kate screamed as she fell, waiting to hit the ground. The Walrider slammed into her again, lifting her up before dropping her again. ‘It’s playing with me.’ Kate realized, her thoughts were broken as she was thrown roughly against the wall, slumping the merciful few feet to the ground. Victoria was by her side in an instant.  
  
“Katie!” she shouted, tears in her eyes, “Are you hurt, how bad is it?” Kate blinked, stars in her eyes.  
  
“I’m -ah- fine.” she winced, hands shooting to her side.  
  
“Can you stand?” Victoria asked,  
  
Kate nodded, “Let’s hurry.”  
  
They got back, Kate leaning heavily against Victoria just as Chloe and Max did. The four ran for the failsafe. With an unholy rush, the Walrider struck them, sending them scattering onto the floor. Chloe almost made it to the button when it attacked her, hoisting her into the air. She felt it begin to choke her, her vision darkening. Kate now tried to push the button, but before she could, the Walrider dropped Chloe, instead attacking Kate.  
  
She screamed as he approached, slamming into her, sending her across the floor. She tried to get up just as the Walrider tossed her farther away from the button. Vitoria tried next. She almost reached it before the Walrider grabbed her by the ankle, dragging her along the floor before swinging her against a thick glass window like a bat, the force cracking the heavy pane. Chloe began to crawl towards the button again, the Walrider grabbed her, holding her head in his hands. Max ran. She ran as fast as she could. The Walrider dropped Chloe, flying towards Max. It grabbed at her feet, missing as Max practically fell on the console, slamming her hand on the failsafe.  
  
The Walrider seemed to screech as it flailed in the air. Billy Hope’s tank began to fill with blood as he finally died. The Walrider fell to the ground, the now useless Nano swarm laying there like broken toys.  
  
The four women slowly made their way towards Max. Kate got there first, a nervous Max checking her for injuries. Victoria crawled towards Chloe, the pair steadying each other as they crawled on their knees towards Max and Kate. Chloe rested her forehead against Max’s, closing her eyes. Victoria slumped onto Kate’s lap. The four stayed there for a while, not saying a word.  
  
“We did it.” Chloe finally said, her voice sounding like it was far away. “We made it.”  
  
“Not yet.” Max said, pushing herself up, she made her way to the engine. She searched until she found it, a large switch by panel along the engines backside. The four pulled it together, each one lacking the strength to carry on alone. The switch came down and the room shook as the engine powered down. With a hiss the panel dropped open, revealing small stairs leading into the engine. Max went first, the others following her in silence.  
  
The interior of the engine was bathed in sickly green light, monitors and control panels blinking rapidly as the system tried to recover.  
  
In the center of the room was a single chair, wrist and ankle shackles, now unlocked, in place to hold the chairs occupant.  
  
The four looked at her, mouths gaping. She was dressed in patient’s garb, similar to Max and Chloe, a strange helmet sat on her head, attached to thousands of wires that led to the ceiling of the engine. Wordlessly, Max lifted the helmet off the woman’s shaved head.  
  
She began to groan and stir as the four carried her body outside.  
  
Her eyes fluttered open as they set her down.  
  
The woman looked around, confused, her eyes wide and dilated. She could have been anywhere from thirty to fifty years old, something about her gave her an ageless quality.  
  
“Hello.” Kate said, gently as she could. “My name’s Kate, this is Max, Victoria and Chloe.” she continued, gesturing at the other three women.  
  
The woman looked around, confused. “They came.” she said, speaking for the first time in eighty years. “I- I stayed to protect them. They took me. Men in black with…with red bands.”  
  
The four woman looked at each other, this woman really was powering the machine, she really was taken during World War II by the SS.  
  
“They’re gone now.” Max assured her, “You’re free.”  
  
The woman looked around, “How long have I been a prisoner?”  
  
“At least eighty years.” Victoria said. The woman nodded. With a grimace she tried to stand before slumping onto the ground.  
  
“Stay still.” Kate said quickly, “What’s your name?”  
  
“My name?” the woman asked. “My name.” She stayed silent for a long time. “Skuld.” she said at last, “My name is Skuld. I- I can’t remember anything else.” She sat up now, the other sitting around her. “I remember being a warrior…” she trailed off as she looked at the quartet more closely. Surely they had to have been in a mighty battle, she thought. They all bore the wounds of fighting, one even had missing fingers. “A warrior like you all.” she said. “Have you been in many battles?”  
  
The four looked at each other, “We’ve fought personal battles, but nothing like this.” Kate finally said.  
  
“What happened?” she asked after a beat.  
  
So they told her the whole story, starting with Max’s diagnosis, how they all met up, their fights with the variants and the Walrider, the video Kate and Max saw.  
  
She stopped them after that. “So those…beasts were using me to cause this, this pointless slaughter?” she said through gritted teeth.  
  
“It wasn’t you.” Kate said, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder, “You did not do this.”  
  
Skuld stared at Kate’s hand for a moment. “Yes. I suppose you are right.”  
  
The five eventually stood, all leaning on each other for support as they made their way to the elevator.  
  
“Thank God it works now.” Kate muttered as the cage began to ascend.  
  
“What country are we in?” Skuld asked.  
  
“The United States, we’re in Colorado.” the woman nodded, she did not remember where she was from, just that she was a long way from home.  
  
They made the rest of the way up in silence, grief, disbelief and dread hanging in the air like an albatross around their necks. ‘If something happens now-’ Chloe thought, she was too tired to run anymore, too tired to fight.  
  
The elevator opened with a soft ding and they were greeted by beautiful light.  
  
The five women stood in the lift for a moment, letting the warmth of the sun wash over their faces.  
  
“Let’s get out of here.” Kate said.  
  
Together, the five walked out, only needing to pass two more bodies lying against the door.  
  
“Price.” one of the bodies wheezed. The women jumped as Jeremy Blair rolled on his side, his once perfect suit bloodied. Beside him lay Mark Jefferson, equally beaten. Blair clutched a knife in one hand, Jefferson, an axe. “Figures you’d make it out bitch.” he spat. Chloe and Vic stepped forward, shoving Kate, Max and Skuld behind them.  
  
“Look at their faces.” Jefferson whispered. “Desperation, fear. Oh, I wish I had a camera.” he sighed.  
  
“Shut the fuck up you freak.” Blair hissed. “I’m going to kill this bitch.”  
  
With a roar, Blair leaped forward, knife swinging wildly.  
  
Skuld watched intently, she could feel something, some deep instinctual urge. As the knife came down towards Chloe’s face, before she even knew what she was doing, she was moving. The women screamed as they saw Skuld run in front of the knife, expecting to hear the sick sound of blade against flesh.  
  
It never came.  
  
Instead a soft light grew from where Blair’s knife struck Skuld’s arm that soon enveloped the entire room.  
  
When the light faded, where the bald, nearly catatonic woman was now stood a different figure entirely.  
  
She wore the finest of armor, dented and scratched with the markings of a thousand battles. Her long brown hair was braided neatly, a gleaming sword in her hand, crossed with Blair’s knife.  
  
Everyone stood shock still.  
  
“Jeremy Blair.” Skuld said, her voice echoing through the room like thunder, “You have brought unspeakable harm onto this world, for your crimes your soul will be cast into Hel and you will be tormented for eternity.”  
  
Blair growled and moved to strike again but before he could Skuld buried her sword deep into his belly. She pulled it out, letting his body slump to the ground before turning towards Jefferson, still holding his axe. In an instant she was upon him, her eyes gazing deep into his.  
  
“I know what you are.” she said, her voice trembling in rage. “Your sick and twisted mind, I look into your diseased eyes and see all the torment you have wrought across every form of existence your miserable soul inhabits.” She grabbed him by the neck one-handed and hoisted him into the air. “I claim this death in honor of all the women that you have hurt in your wretched life. The serpents of Yggdrasil will feast on your flesh for all time, the gods will smite the very memory of you from the entire universe and still this fate is too kind for you.” Jefferson kicked and flailed, eyes wide with terror as Skuld’s grip tightened until there was a satisfying crack. She let his body fall to the floor, taking one look at it, she screamed in rage, bringing her sword down onto his neck. Seemingly satisfied, she wiped her sword on his coat sleeve before sheathing it.  
  
The four other women stared in shock at what they had seen, not quite knowing if it was real or not.  
  
Skuld chuckled, “I assure you my sisters what you saw was very real.” They looked at each other, not sure how this woman seemed to know what they were thinking.  
  
“Who are you?” Max asked finally.  
  
“I am Skuld.” she said simply. “At one time I was a Norn and a Valkyrie, a blessed seer and peerless warrior, loyal to the Allfather and to Asgard.”  
  
“Holy shit you’re talking about Norse mythology…you’re fucking real.” Victoria panted.  
  
“Yes I am.” she said, “Years ago my sisters and I were fighting the vermin in what you call World War II. They came at night and I alone stayed behind to cover our retreat, they captured me.” she fell silent for what seemed like hours. “That is all I remember until you four saved me.”  
  
“Thank you Skuld.” Kate said at last, “You saved us.” Skuld approached them, laying strong hands on Kate and Max’s shoulders.  
  
“Thank you my sisters.” she said, tears forming in here eyes. “It is thanks to your courage, honor and sacrifice that I am free and can rejoin my sisters.”  
  
As if summoned, and perhaps they were, two women appeared in the room, an amber light around them.  
  
“I will see you again.” Skuld promised before she turned to join her sisters. “You four would make the most noble of Valkyrie’s. Now go, your families are waiting for you.” she said, giving them one last smile before walking into the light. The four saw her embrace her sisters tightly until the light faded, as if it had never been there.  
  
“Did that really just happen?” Victoria asked, her voice filled with awe.  
  
“It did.” Chloe said shaking herself out of her reverie. “Now come on, let’s get the fuck out this place.”  
  
They walked out the doors of Mount Massive, sun gleaming on them as if welcoming them home. Using each other for support, the four women made their way towards the gates, relying on each other to keep moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long, I really struggled with the ending and the character of Skuld. Next chapter will be up soon, very soon.  
> Please comment letting me know what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos or even better a comment :) if you likes it, It's really dark and horrible but I promise it has a happy ending.


End file.
